


A to Z with the di Angelos

by Takara_Phoenix



Series: Phoe's Headcanon-Timeline [38]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Family Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mpreg, Next Generation, Nicercy - Freeform, Nicercy's kids, Shounen-ai, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-04-14 13:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 19,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4565604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takara_Phoenix/pseuds/Takara_Phoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is part of my headcanon-timeline, part of the important parts. The Nicercy-parts. So unlike other stories that focus on the sidepairings, this focuses on the development of Nico's and Percy's relationship.</p><p>--</p><p>Spanning between 2017 and 2032, this tells the family-life of the di Angelos in short scenes. How Nico and Percy raise their children and how the family grows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. V is for Vacation [July 2017]

PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || A to Z with the di Angelos || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: A to Z with the di Angelos – Parental Life of Heroes

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, fluff, family, adorable kids, mpreg, pregnancy, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Piper/Annabeth, Chris/Clarisse, Paul/Sally, Tyson/Ella, Charles/Silena

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Clarisse la Rue, Chris Rodriguez, Lou Ellen, Will Solace, Charles Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, Sally Blofis, Paul Blofis, Tyson, Ella, Small Bob, Mrs. O'Leary

Mythological Characters: Atalanta, Britomartis, Calypso, Chiron, Poseidon, Hades

Own Characters of the Next Generation:

 _Nicercy_ : Bianca Maria di Angelo, Hades Poseidon di Angelo, Sally Persephone di Angelo, Theseus Paul di Angelo, James Charles di Angelo, Laura Silena di Angelo, Jackson Tyson di Angelo

 _Chrisse_ : Calandra Rodriguez, Chrysander Rodriguez, Charisma Rodriguez

 _Pipabeth_ : Theadora Tiphane Chase, Lucas Thomas Chase, Tristan Frederick Chase, Matthew Robert Chase

 _Louranda_ : Kathryn Ellen, Alabaster Ellen

 _Jakill_ : Elizabeth Mason

Summary: One chapter for every letter of the alphabet, each depicting a scene from the family life of Nico, Percy and their children, from "A Very Half-Blood Marriage" to "Chasing Fireflies".

**A to Z with the di Angelos**

_Parental Life of Heroes_

 

**V is for Vacation [July 2017]**

"This is silly, Nico. Donny can barely stand on his own, he's too young for a vacation. We really shouldn't", chided Percy with a frown, his one-years old son against his shoulder.

"Mamma", babbled Donny happily, nestled up against the warmth of his mother.

Nico behind them grunted and shouldered their luggage as they got off the Argo II. Bia with her two and a half years was energetic as always, running past her dad to catch up with mom. Of course she did, Percy was carrying the precious little brother after all. Percy smiled down at his daughter, resting one hand on top of her head. Bia looked completely in awe as she stared around.

"Beach. Mamma swim?", asked Bia curiously, looking up at Percy pleadingly.

Percy melted as he looked into those pitch-black eyes. "Of course we go swimming later, love."

While his daughter lit up like the sun, Nico fell in step with them. "See. This vacation needed to happen. Our children are _your_ children, the sea is part of them. I want them to get to enjoy it as soon as possible. Besides, you're pregnant, amore. That needs to be celebrated. And if we don't go on vacation now, we never will, because one child will always be too young, or we will be too busy, or something else will come up. I told you when we got married that I want to give you everything you desire. You never got out of New York when you were younger. I remember how very much you loved our honeymoon, so I want to travel with you. Now, no more arguments allowed."

Nico leaned over and kissed Percy's cheek, causing the son of Poseidon to blush. When Percy had held the positive pregnancy test yesterday, Nico had practically suffocated Percy in a kiss and hug and declared that they'd go on their first family vacation. And even though Percy was skeptical, he did like the sentiment. They truly hadn't traveled anywhere since the honeymoon.

"Ah. There you are. Your room is ready, lunch will be served in two hours. If you need help with anything, you'll find me in my office at the entrance", greeted Calypso with a polite smile.

"How about 'welcome and good day', or something like that", supplied Nico and rolled his eyes.

Calypso ignored him and went to coo over Donny, patting the boy's hair. "Such a little darling."

After Leo had released her after the Giant War, she had traveled the world for years, enjoying her freedom. But the island had been her home for long and with the curse broken, people could come and go as they liked. She was so used to hosting for others and taking care of others, so she decided to earn money with this, to make a living for herself. She opened up a hotel for gods and demigods on Ogygia, a vacation paradise where heroes could relax at the beach without having to fear monsters. Percy had talked about wishing to go and visit for years now and apparently Nico still listened to every word he said. Smiling kindly at the caramel-haired woman, Percy followed her to their rooms. On their way, he updated Calypso on what everyone was up to these days.

"Not that Valdez doesn't call like every other week anyway", chuckled Calypso amused and shook her head. "Oh and please, tell Annabeth and Piper to come back soon. They're a true delight."

Of course she'd say that. The di Angelos settled in their room and changed into swim clothes before heading straight to the beach. When Percy sat down on the sun-warmed sand, he was grateful that his husband had insisted on this vacation. Collapsing backward, he pulled Donny onto his chest. The boy was white as a ghost because Percy had put as much sun-screen on him as possible.

"I'm taking a picture of this and sending it to Clarisse", declared Nico amused, phone in hands. "You really overdid it there, bello. Donny won't burst into flames instantly, honestly, love."

"Shut up and build a sand castle with our daughter", ordered Percy, cuddling their baby son.

"Castle!", agreed Bianca Maria excitedly, grabbing her dad's hand. "Build, papà!"

Nico huffed, because his husband had just sold him out, but he obediently followed their daughter. Percy grinned and cracked one eye open, adjusting to curl together around Donny and watch Nico and Bia. He loved how tender and soft Nico could be. This vacation really had been a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've come to the conclusion that it's probably gonna be confusing to post it in alphabetical order so I decided to now post in timeline-order (I'll be switching the A chapter to its appropriate place once we reached that). So here we are, two years after the end of "A Very Half-Blood Marriage", the next chapter in the timeline! Next one will have the twins' birth ;)


	2. B is for Birth [April 2018]

**B is for Birth [April 2018]**

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

Nico next to him just nodded in understanding and allowed him to squeeze his hand even tighter. That made Percy hate him even _more_. Gods, damn that adorable, apologetic puppy-look.

"And I hate your dick!", spat Percy for good measure before groaning in pain.

"Are you getting all of this, Chris?", asked Clarisse with a broad smirk.

"We're filming this so they have the memory of their children's birth. Not so you can laugh about them, love", reminded Chris, who had the duty to film Nico and Percy.

Clarisse just snickered, holding onto Percy's other hand. Percy would glare at her, but he was too busy cursing his husband and trying to give birth to twins. Twins. Damn that Ghost King and his dick for putting twins into him. Like giving birth to _one_ wasn't painful enough!

"I'm gonna castrate you when this is over!", hissed Percy as another contraction hit.

"Of course, amore", nodded Nico obediently, kissing Percy's knuckles.

"With _Riptide_!", added Percy and howled in pain.

"Anything you want, love", agreed Nico, brushing the sweaty hair out of Percy's face.

"There we go, your son is here. Now, only one more, Percy. You can do that."

"Don't tell me what I can do, Solace, or I'll castrate you too!", spat Percy irritated.

Will just laughed at him and handed the baby over to Nico before he sat down back between Percy's legs. This was the worst part about being pregnant. Percy threw a row of curses in English, Italian, Greek and German around the room as he tried to get the second one out. Twins. Never again!

"Congratulations, you also have a daughter", announced Will after another ten minutes.

Percy collapsed back on the bed, panting hard and still cursing softly. At least until he turned his head and saw Nico, holding two little bundles, one wrapped in a blue blanket and one wrapped in a pink blanket. The little girl was wailing horribly and Nico tried to calm her.

"I'm sure she doesn't like the pink", declared Clarisse and made a face. "Understandable."

If Percy wouldn't be so exhausted, he would have laughed at that. "Gimme. Now."

Nico cautiously sat down next to Percy on the bed and handed the little boy over to Percy. Percy leaned his head against his lover's shoulder, panting hard, eyes half-lid in exhaustion.

"So, what are their names?", inquired Chris curiously, zooming in on the little family.

"Sally Persephone, after her grandmothers, and Theseus Paul, because... he'll be a great hero", whispered Percy softly, eyes tender as he stared into Theseus Paul's dark eyes. "Won't you?"

The little boy yelped in agreement and stared at his mother adoringly. Only moments later did Nico take the baby from him to instead place their daughter in his arms. She instantly stopped wailing.

"Great. Newborn and already favoring mommy over daddy", grunted Nico with a glare.

"They're perfect, Nico", whispered Percy in awe, caressing his daughter's cheek. "Perfect."

Nico smiled softly and nodded in agreement as he kissed the top of Percy's head. "They are."

"I wanna make another one", declared Percy as he traced Sally Persephone's nose.

"Didn't you just threaten to castrate him?", inquired Clarisse half-amused, sitting next to Percy.

"Oh, that's a ritual between us", dismissed Nico lightly. "Shortly before and during the birth, Percy curses me in any way possible and declares to never go through another pregnancy again. As soon as he gets to hold our child, he's completely sucked into this... baby-magic-charm."

"Shut up. Be grateful I allow you to be my baby's daddy", warned Percy with a half-hearted glare.

"Always grateful", agreed Nico obediently to humor his husband, kissing him again.

"You two are disgustingly cute", snorted Clarisse and shook her head. "Come on, hand them over."

Percy smiled as he watched Clarisse holding his daughter and Chris holding his son, talking in soft voices to the babies. Giving birth was painful and irritating, but it was so worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be Bia's POV on her first day of kindergarten ;3


	3. K is for Kindergarten [September 2018]

**K is for Kindergarten [September 2018]**

Bia was very, very excited as she stood in front of the full-length mirror in her parents' bedroom. Her mom stood behind her, gushing and fawning over her. She was already three and a half and she would go to kindergarten starting today. Mom was as excited as she was, maybe even a bit more.

"You are the prettiest little princess to ever princess", fawned Percy proudly, kissing Bia's cheek.

"Silly mamma", giggled Bia happily. "You can't princess, is not a verb."

"Nico! Our daughter needs to stop hanging out at the Chases, because she knows words like 'verb' and what it means!", called Percy out and wiggled his nose. "How do you _know_ that?"

"Auntie Annie taught me", chimed Bia proudly. "There's now-ns and verbs and adjects."

"Adjectives. And I think you don't need to know those things just yet, princess", chuckled Nico as he entered the room. "You should focus on having fun. Kindergarten is all about fun-fun-fun, yes?"

"Cally and Sander will be there too, right?", asked Bia hopefully.

Percy nodded with a smile and knelt down in front of his daughter to straighten the bow on Bia's dress. She wore a really pretty blue dress with frills and bows and fishes on it. Smiling at Bia, Percy kissed her cheek and stood. Nico and Percy exchanged a look and Nico left the room again. Bia grasped her mommy's hand and followed her mom out of the room and over to Donny's room. Donny was Bia's very special little brother, though by now she also had two more very special little siblings too. But they were still new, so she wasn't allowed to play with them just yet.

"Come on, little prince. We'll go and bring Bia to her first big day", announced Percy with a smile.

Bia stood back and watched how her mommy shouldered her little brother. Donny was already over two and he could walk, but he was really, really shy and mommy still carried him, so he didn't object to being carried around instead of having to walk. He still looked upset at the idea of having Bia go somewhere without him. But Bia knew it was alright, because Donny was still too small but he would be old enough next year, so it was fine. Smiling up at her mommy, she took his hand. Daddy was already waiting downstairs, with the twins tugged into their stroller. Bia let go of mom's hand to look at the twins. They were awesome, because they came as two, just like Cally and Sander. Her little sister giggled while her little brother was asleep. The ringing of the doorbell interrupted Bianca Maria as she marveled at the two tiny twins. A large smile split Bia's face as she saw who it was. Uncle Chris and aunt Clarisse – and between them were their children and Bia's friends, Cally and Sander. Cally pulled away from her dad and ran up to hug Bia, while Sander instead turned toward Percy, who was just walking over to them with Donny.

"Hey kids, are you excited about kindergarten?", asked Nico playfully.

"Yes! Bia and I will have lots of adventures with Thea! Thea's already there and waiting and we'll have lots of fun!", exclaimed Cally excitedly, arms tightly wrapped around Bia.

"Nu-uh", mumbled Sander softly, shaking his head. "I dun't wanna go."

"Why not, honey?", asked Percy concerned and knelt down to look at the boy.

"Because he wants to stay with mommy", groaned Clarisse exhausted. "I'm just tired and can't wait to get some hours of me-time. Also, I can't wait to get more hours at the dojo down."

Percy hummed in agreement, smiling amused as he reached out for Sander. Though Sander seemed more fascinated with Donny, tilting his head curiously as he looked at the shy boy.

"Donny coming too?", asked Sander, sounding even a little eager.

"No", huffed Bia and rolled her eyes. "Little Donny is too little. Right, Donny?"

Donny nodded hastily and hid his face in the crook of their mommy's neck. Bia loved her Donny, but she knew he wasn't ready for kindergarten yet. Bia however, she couldn't wait to join Thea in kindergarten and play with her and Cally all day long. Hopefully, Donny would be braver by next year. Grabbing her mom's hand, she led the way as their group headed to the kindergarten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be Donny's POV on a weekend at Sally's ;3


	4. G is for Grandparents [August 2019]

**G is for Grandparents [August 2019]**

Mommy's birthday was always awesome, but this year, it was even more awesome. Daddy had made mommy's favorite food – all in blue, because mommy liked blue food. Donny liked it too. After daddy's cooking, they had played board games together. At least mommy, daddy, Bia and him had. Thess and Percy were only a little over a year, though they had stayed in daddy's and mommy's laps the whole time, watching curiously. And after playing, their parents had brought all four of them to their grandparents in New York. Donny didn't really understand, but daddy had said he wanted to have some alone-time with mommy. It was okay, because grandma and grandpa were awesome too. Grandpa sat on the ground in the living room with Thess and Percy, playing with the twins. They were both laughing and giggling as they played with grandpa.

"They're already so big, aren't they?", marveled Paul in awe as he tickled Thess.

"No, nonno", giggled Thess and tried to wiggle away.

"Uhu. They're not really fun to play with yet, but they will be, right?", agreed Bia eagerly.

She walked over to them and sat down behind Percy, wrapping her arms around her little sister and pulling the little girl against her chest. Percy yelped happily and wrapped her arms around her big sister's neck. Donny tilted his head as he watched them curiously. He always followed Bia around too, because she was his big sister. But with Percy it was different, maybe because they were both girls. Did that mean Bia loved Percy more than him? Frowning at the thought, he got up and walked to their room. There were bunk beds and the baby beds in it.

"Hey there, munchkin, Paul said you left and looked upset", stated grandma as she entered.

"Nonna, do you think Bia loves Percy more than me because she's a girl?", asked Donny upset.

Sally looked concerned and walked over to her grandson, carrying a tray with hot chocolate and cookies. Donny's eyes sparkled as he stared intensely at the goods. Grandma made the very best hot chocolate of everyone, though mommy's was second, because he had learned it from her.

"Honey, what makes you say that?", asked Sally concerned, caressing his hair. "Bia loves you very much and I think you'll always have a special spot in her heart because you were her first little brother. She's just excited about the babies. Aren't you excited about them? I saw you cuddle with Thess when you took a nap earlier and you looked pretty happy with your teddy bear."

Donny frowned thoughtful and nodded. It made sense. He loved having his little siblings and just because Bia already had one little brother didn't mean she'd be less excited about the other little ones. It still sucked that he had to share Bia's attention with them though.

"But Bia is mine", argued Donny, still pouting. "Mommy has daddy and Thess has Percy and you have grandpa, so Bia should me mine, right? So everyone has their own in our family so no one has to ever-ever be alone and always has someone to love, right?"

Sally nodded in agreement and handed Donny a cookie, causing the boy's face to light up. "You're right. But you can't always only have one person to love. You love your mommy and daddy too, after all. And I know sometimes, you go to the park with your dad, while Bia goes to the dojo with your mom and that's fine too, right? So your sisters should be okay to play some too, while grandpa is playing with Thess and you're with me now, wouldn't you say?"

"...Okay", agreed Donny while munching his cookie. "Can you tell me a story, nonna?"

Sally laughed as she got more comfortable on the bed, putting the tray down on the nightstand before grabbing Donny by the waist and pulling him up to cuddle him. Donny was more than happy to snuggle up to grandma. He liked visiting his grandparents, because grandma would tell stories about how mommy used to be when he was their age and grandpa would go to the park with them and play all day long, something mom and dad only could do on the weekends. He just hoped mom and dad wouldn't be bored while Donny and his siblings had all the fun with grandma and grandpa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will focus on Percy Junior and her masterplan of skipping nap-time to have her parents all-all to herself while her siblings sleep! Totally fool-proof plan, right?


	5. N is for Naps [May 2020]

**N is for Naps [May 2020]**

At age two, Percy was way too old for naps. After all, napping meant not being able to see the world and see her mommy and daddy. And moms and dads didn't nap either, she knew her mom and dad worked and did other stuff. So if they didn't have to sleep, she wouldn't either. There were three other siblings, after all. There was Bia, who was always hogging daddy, and Donny, who was always hogging mommy. Thess was always with daddy, so Percy had to share daddy with both Bia and Thess, but she also had to share mommy with Donny. But nap-time meant Percy's siblings were asleep, which meant that mommy and daddy were all free, which meant they'd be only hers.

Yawning widely, Percy crawled out of her bed, sparing one glance at her sleeping twin. Thess was clutching his plushy tightly, snoring softly. Smiling brightly, Percy left their bedroom. On her way to the stairs, she first passed Bia's bedroom, seeing her five-years old sister also asleep. The last room before the stairs was her big brother's. Donny was also sleeping, cuddling Mister Fluffkins, the panda plushy Donny always dragged around with him. Perfect. All siblings accounted for, which meant _Operation: Mommy and Daddy are All-Mine_ was a go. She determinedly climbed down the stairs, one step at a time. Stairs were nasty. Normally, mommy would carry her down the evil stairs, but since the mission was to reach mommy and daddy on her own, she had to climb them herself. But the stairs were high and she was small, so even though she was doing good so far, she stumbled and face-planted on the stair below. Instantly, she started wailing.

"Oh my gosh, that's my baby!", exclaimed mommy from somewhere.

Seconds later and mommy rounded the corner, his large, sea-green eyes worried as he gathered her up in his arms. Instantly, the pain seemed not as bad anymore as it had when she had hit the stair. Sobbing lowly, she cuddled up to her mommy. She loved her mommy very much, because they had the same eyes and the same name and none of her siblings had mommy's name, so she must be mommy's favorite, right? Being cooed at and rocked back and forth, she slowly calmed.

"Percy? What happened? Are the kids alright, amore?", asked daddy concerned, also approaching.

"Junior fell down the stairs", replied mommy. "But I think she's alright, Nico."

"So my Percys are alright then?", asked daddy with a teasing grin, kissing both their foreheads.

"Daddy!", yelped Percy happily, making grabby motions for dad's curls.

"But didn't we put them all to bed like half an hour ago, Perce?", inquired dad confused.

"We did", agreed mommy, tickling Percy's belly. "But it seems this little angel doesn't want to stay in bed. What is it, sweetling? Did you want something to drink? Or did you have a bad dream?"

"Want mommy and daddy", declared Percy with a stubborn glare. "No nappy."

"Why no nappy, tesorina?", asked daddy confused, smoothing her curls tenderly.

"Nappy. No mommy and daddy", explained Percy, unsure why daddy didn't get it.

"Of course, princess", smiled mommy with a knowing grin, kissing her nose. "Nico, come with us."

"Uhm... where are we going?", asked her daddy confused, following them upstairs.

"Our daughter obviously wants to spend time with us", explained mommy, apparently as annoyed as Percy was that daddy didn't get it. "So we'll spend time with our little princess."

Mommy was the cleverest person on the whole planet. He always understood what Percy and her siblings wanted. Pleased by that did the little girl snuggle up to her mommy, yawning widely. They entered her parents' bedroom and mommy climbed into the really-really large bed. Percy always found it unfair that mommy and daddy had this really big bed and got to always cuddle each other, but now that she was laying between mommy and daddy, she liked the bed.

"No... nappy...", mumbled Percy, suspecting that mommy was up to something. "No tired..."

She yawned widely, eyes dropping slowly while mommy hummed softly. "Of course not, princess."

Daddy had his arms wrapped around them both and maybe napping was okay when she had them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will focus on a bonding moment between Thess and his papà!


	6. W is for Waterfall [February 2021]

**W is for Waterfall [February 2021]**

What Thess loved most was when daddy went to the park with them. Mommy worked in the afternoons and watched over them in the mornings, while daddy was at work. But then, when mommy left for work – kissing them all goodbye and telling them to behave while he was gone – daddy would watch them. Thess loved mommy too, of course, and mommy always played fun games with them. But when daddy went to the park with them, it was always an adventure, because daddy could summon funny creatures and fluffy hellhounds and they played catch, or they played hide and seek and daddy hid them in shadows and shadows tickled so funny.

Today, they met up with daddy's friend, auntie Lou. Which meant that Thess' twin-sister was occupied. She and Kitty were like best friends and when Kitty was around, even Thess was uninteresting. The two girls were sitting on the blanket with auntie Lou and Bia. Auntie Lou was awesome, because she had magic and she could play funny tricks. All three girls were in total awe as they watched auntie Lou perform some funny sparkly little trick.

"You always know how to occupy the kids", chuckled Nico fondly as he watched his best friend.

"I know", smirked Lou, waving purple sparkles around the girls' heads, causing them to giggle and squeal. "I can't wait until Kitty learns how to do magic so I can teach her everything I know."

"Magic with mommy!", agreed Kitty eagerly, staring at her mom like she was the greatest.

"And what are you going to do if Kitty takes after Miranda?", challenged Nico, looking amused.

"Pfff. This little one here is a witch alright", snorted Lou and rolled her eyes before grabbing Thess and pulling him into a hug. "Just like this one here is exactly like your wife. A fish out of water."

"Fishy? Water?", echoed Thess, turning large, begging eyes on his daddy.

Daddy grinned at him, that cute and proud grin mommy claimed he only-only ever had reserved for mommy, Thess and his siblings. He shifted the sleeping Donny in his arms and cautiously placed him on the blanket next to Lou, before he grasped Thess by the armpits and lifted him up high in the air, whirling him around until the little boy was giggling and squealing in delight. Thess hummed contently as he was pressed against daddy's chest and daddy carried him over to the lake. Thess loved, loved, loved this lake. There was a little river running through their backyard – the Poseidonian River, named after their grandpa – and when they followed the river back, they reached this lake, in the middle of Persephone Park – named after their grandma. But the most awesome thing about the lake, even more than the river or the park, was that there was a waterfall. Water, falling down into the lake, making funny noises and foam and rippling waves through the surface. There was nothing more fascinating than water and what it could do.

"You know what that waterfall is called, bambino?", whispered Nico as he lowered Thess into the water, only where the water would reach Thess' knees when he was standing.

"Nu-uh", replied Thess and shook his head, while splashing his hands into the water.

He giggled when daddy got all wet, shaggy hair dripping. Mommy always did that too when they were near water and daddy would growl fondly at him. Smirking at Thess, Nico started tickling his son until Thess' giggles turned into pure laughter. Nico smiled pleased as he sat down on the ground crosslegged so the water could lap over his legs, before he pulled Thess in to sit on Nico's lap, splashing in the water and watching the waterfall in awe. The fishes started circling them curiously.

"These are the Hydros Falls, named after the very-very first deity of water and the sea."

"Like grampa-seidon?", asked Thess, tilting his head back to stare up at his dad.

"Before your grandpa Poseidon, there was his uncle Oceanus and before Oceanus his aunt Thalassa and before her, there was Hydros. Everything watery started with him", explained Nico softly.

That was really why Thess loved going to the park with his daddy the most, because he knew all those stories about the gods and monsters and history. Thess smiles as they watched the waterfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is gonna be a tiny bit darker, because it'll delve into Donny's growing anxieties!
> 
> My next update will be on Saturday and it'll be "The House of Love"! Watch out on Wednesdays and Saturdays for updates of my stories ;)


	7. Z is for Zerberus [September 2022]

**Z is for Zerberus [September 2022]**

At age six, people started to call Donny 'Nico's son', instead of 'Percy's son'. It wasn't a big shift and he was the son of them both, but he knew why. He pulled back. He was more aware of the things others said about him. They used to call him Percy's son because his mom was _the Percy Jackson_. Sure, his dad had played a big part in both wars too, but his mom was the Savior of Olympus. And people expected a lot of things from the son of the savior. His big sister was busy proving herself, exceeding as an archer and swordsman, well swordswoman. But Donny? He didn't like the idea of fighting. His parents had offered him to take classes, like many other children of the great heroes did at early ages between five and seven. Donny had just shaken his head. Those things were dangerous and serious and he didn't understand why others – like Bia or Sander and Cally – liked to train and treated swords and bows like they were toys.

But with that decision, people started to view him differently. It seemed to be a disappointment that Donny hadn't picked up a sword as soon as he could walk so he could slay his first monster, because that was what people eagerly awaited and wanted to see from the son of the savior. When they realized that Donny wasn't doing anything interesting and won't be riding in on the back of a drakon after slaying the Minotaur before entering elementary school, they seemed to lose interest in him pretty fast. Either that, or they talked about him, called him a bore and a coward. Not worthy of being the son of the Percy Jackson. So Donny pulled back, because he couldn't stand it. What was the point in relishing in the praise if the very same people turned to badmouth him behind his back once he failed to live up to their expectations? He had his family and those friends he had to that day – Thea Chase and Sander Rodriguez – and on that day, he decided that that was all he needed. He wasn't going to put himself out for anyone else to come close and just hurt him.

" _Why are you crying, little prince?_ " - " _Sh, you can see he's upset!_ " - " _But I wanna know why too!_ "

Donny blinked, staring up at the source of the three voices with wet sea-green eyes. Rubbing his eyes with his little fists, he tilted his head. He was his dad's son, he had his dad's powers. Shadow-traveling. Though he couldn't control it one bit. It generally just brought him where he wanted to be when he was emotional. Normally, that meant he'd be transported to his mom's lap so Percy could coddle him and tell him everything was alright. But not now. He couldn't go to mommy, he either wouldn't understand it or he would feel guilty about it. So his shadow-traveling had brought him to his favorite place. The underworld. Donny giggled a little, despite his sadness, as three eager tongues started licking his face. He cuddled up to the large furry creature.

"Is okay, Zerby", mumbled Donny as he hugged the three-headed dog.

" _Is not. You're crying_ ", disagreed the left head with a frown, while the right asked. " _Why?_ "

"Because mommy is this big, big hero and everybody wants me to be like mommy, but I'm not and now others are talking bad about me", explained Donny softly.

" _Ah, like master_ ", nodded the middle hand in understanding.

"Huh?", asked Donny confused, nose buried in the soft, comfortable fur.

" _Master was the oldest son of King Kronos, the ruler of the world. Everyone expected him to do great and brilliant things, but then his youngest brother rose to become a big hero and succeeded King Kronos on the throne. They expected Master to be displeased with 'only' getting the underworld, thought he would rise and beat his little brother and become the rightful king. But he didn't. He likes the underworld and us and his queen. So they started talking bad about him, because he didn't do as they expected_ ", explained the middle head, slowly licking Donny's cheek and hair. " _But it doesn't matter as long as those important know better._ "

Donny bit his lips and nodded. He loved Zerberus, because the guard of the underworld was very wise and very comforting. Yawning widely, he snuggled closer to the giant puppy and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will feature how Percy Junior got her powers and how sometimes, legacies get disappointed at what powers they inherited. And just how awesome Percy and Nico are as parents!
> 
> Next update will be "When Reality Crumbles" on Wednesday! ;)


	8. D is for Darkness [April 2023]

**D is for Darkness [April 2023]**

It was their fifth birthday. Like every year, Percy Junior was sitting in front of the clock, waiting until it was exactly their time, together with mommy, daddy and Thess. Their siblings were all asleep, but mommy and daddy always waited until the exact moment the twins had been born. It was always really exciting. Percy sat cuddled up on her mommy's lap, while Thess was curled together on their daddy's lap. They were turning five and Percy was really excited.

"Happy birthday, my little sweetlings!", exclaimed their mom just as the clock hit it.

Percy giggled and squirmed as their mom tickled and kissed her. She loved her mom so very, very much. After all, she was the only one named after their mom. Well, technically after their grandmas – Sally Persephone – but still, they called her Percy. Their mom's name was Percy. So she was named after their mommy and mommy often called her Junior. She was the only junior in the family. And she couldn't wait for her powers to manifest, because once she could control water and do all the fun stuff mom could, then they could swim together and dive really deep down to grandpa's palace and she'd really, really, really be like mommy. She really wanted to be.

"Huh. Earlier than Donny and Bia", commented their dad surprised.

Percy frowned and turned toward her daddy, seeing the surprised look on her twin-brother's face and hearing the gasp coming from mom. She looked around, not sure why everyone was looking at her like that. Then she noticed. Everything was really, really dark around her, like the shadows of the late evening were licking up to her hands and feet. She frowned.

"Ah, my little princess! Taking after her old man!", laughed Nico pleased.

He had put Thess down to grab Percy, lifting her up into the air, looking at her so proudly. She just looked confused, staring over at her brother, who was now being coddled by mommy. She loved her dad, of course she loved her dad very dearly, but... she always wanted to be like mommy. She had their mommy's eyes, the eyes of the sea, that was what dad called them. Sea-green. That meant she should have mommy's powers too, right? She wanted to be like mommy. The sea was bright and happy and full of fishes – and mommy could even talk to fishes. But the underworld was creepy and dark and lonely. She didn't want darkness and loneliness.

"What's wrong, my princess?", asked her mom, worry in his sea-green eyes.

"I—I wanna be like mommy", sobbed Percy and buried her face in her dad's chest.

"Ouch. Okay. Trying not to be too hurt", huffed her dad as he held her tightly.

"No!", yelped Percy and looked up at her father with large eyes. "I love you, daddy! But I'm Percy, like mommy, I have mommy's eyes, I wanna have mommy's powers too..."

She didn't see how her parents exchanged a worried look over her head, quite obviously lost as to what to say to their daughter. Not that they needed to, because the next moment had Thess leaning over to grab his twin-sister and hug her tightly, ruffling her curly hair.

"But if you look like mommy and have mommy's name and mommy's powers, how is daddy supposed to know that you're his too?", asked Thess with a frown. "If you're all-all mommy, there's nothing of daddy, right? And then no one would know you're daddy's too."

The sobbing slowly subsided as Percy mulled this over. That may actually be true. If she was all-all mommy, then others wouldn't know that she was also daddy's, but she loved both her parents.

"You're such a clever boy, Thess", praised their dad with a fond smile as he ruffled his son's hair, before turning to his daughter. "I love you very much, princess, and I love that you're so much like your mamma, but I'd also be very, very proud if you had something of mine too."

She frowned as she watched her father curl a shadow up. It formed a ball and she couldn't help but be in awe as she tried to touch the darkness, because she _could_. She could touch shadows.

"Happy birthday, princess", whispered Nico and kissed the top of her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because that's a problem demigods don't necessarily have. Being born to two demigods, a legacy can over the years develop expectations as to whose powers they'll inherited. And being told that she wasn't like Donny or Thess or their mom is a very important chapter in Junior's life.
> 
> Next chapter will focus on Bianca Maria and how she and Cally first properly encountered the Hunt.
> 
> The next update will be a Nicercy oneshot on Saturday! Nico, a young vampire lord injured after an encounter with vampire hunters, crash-lands on the balcony of a young vet. In his bat-form. Percy, a vet in training, finds the most adorable tiny bat on his balcony and decides to nurse it back to health.


	9. C is for Camping [November 2024]

**9\. C is for Camping [November 2024]**

Bia had always admired her auntie Thalia. She was strong, determined, powerful and wild. Not that she had understood it when she had been younger. But now she was already nine years old, so she understood plenty. More than others gave her credit for. After a lot of begging, their parents had allowed Bia, Cally and Thea to go camping with auntie Thalia. Thea's moms had been the only ones who had agreed fast, because auntie Annabeth trusted auntie Thalia very much. Cally's mom however was less than pleased. Not that anyone could deny the trio when the girls turned large, begging eyes on the parents. Thea, Cally and Bia sat huddled together around the fire.

"You're doing that completely wrong. Sitting at the fire without marshmallows!"

The three little girls turned toward the voice. It wasn't auntie Thalia, it was one of her friends. Since it were three girls, Lady Artemis had insisted that Thalia should take two additional huntresses, to protect the children. That however had put Bia and her friends in even more awe. Atalanta walked toward them with a smile, handing them sticks with marshmallows on them. Atalanta. Bia always listened closely during their history lessons, she knew all the important old myths. All the great heroes. Perseus, Theseus, Jason, Achilles, Orpheus, Odysseus, Herakles. All the big names were always boys and Bia had always complained about that. It had been auntie Thalia who had told her about the greatest female hero of the old – Atalanta, the greatest huntress there ever was.

"Is it hard?", asked Cally curiously, eying Atalanta with a greedy look.

"Being that awesome? Sure", nodded Atalanta, her smirk mischievous.

"Being such an egomaniac", corrected Britomartis next to her, rolling her own eyes.

Britomartis was awesome too. She was Thalia's half-sister, a daughter of Zeus who had joined the hunt to become a great hero too. Bia bit her lower lip as she stared at the three older girls opposite them. The two daughters of Zeus sat on either side of Atalanta, both laughing now.

"Being a female hero", clarified Thea with a serious expression on her face. "They're always boys. And sure, my moms were heroes of the Giant War, but mommy also fought in the Titan War, very hard, yet everyone only spoke about uncle Percy. The same goes for aunt Reyna. She too fought hard in the Titan War, but what the gods cared about was only uncle Jason."

"Not gonna lie, kiddo", sighed Atalanta, pushing one strand of dark hair behind her ear. "It's incredibly hard for us girls. Everything is harder for girls to achieve than for boys, but in the world of heroes, it's a hundred times harder, because the hero saves the damsel in distress. So, when the damsel decides to become a hero herself, who's to be saved? We're always, constantly, chasing after the boys. Always just a step behind them. That's why we're here, why we're hunters of our Lady Artemis. Because we can fight better together. Not just against monsters, also against the boys."

Bia frowned and tilted her head, suckling on the gooey marshmallow at the end of her stick. Chasing after the boys? She didn't want that. She found it unfair that boys got more praise and attention than girls, but it was true. Her papà was praised higher for returning the Parthenon than auntie Reyna, her mamma got all the praise for returning the Master Bolt, even though uncle Grover and auntie Annabeth had been just as much a part of it. And in many versions, her mamma also got the praise for returning the Golden Fleece, even though it had been auntie Clarisse's quest and she had been the one to deliver it too. It really was unfair. Male heroes got far more attention, girls didn't even get a fair chance at becoming a hero. Looking over, she noticed that Cally looked as upset as Bia felt. She guessed that was why they were best friends, going strong for nine years.

"Stop thinking so hard, kids", laughed Thalia, placing one hand on Cally's head and the other on Bia's, ruffling both their hair. "Today, we're just having fun, mh? We're going tracking after the marshmallows, let's see if we can catch ourselves a midnight snack."

The girls cheered, causing the three huntresses to laugh amused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will focus on a family trip to Italy! ;)
> 
> Next update is going to be "Life at Novus Olympus Academy" on Wednesday!


	10. I is for Italy [August 2025]

**10\. I is for Italy [August 2025]**

Italy was the most awesome place on the whole, entire planet! It was incredibly hard for Percy Junior not to tear away from her papà's hand to run off in excitement and look at everything close-up. They were on family vacation. They did that every year. The first Percy remembered had been boring – it had only been New York, but at least they had gotten their grandparents too. And they always went on the beach, because of mamma. This year however was really special, because they were in the city where their papà had been born. Okay, so New York was where mamma was born, but it wasn't so special because they often went there on the weekends too. Venice however was super-totally special and amazing and awesome. And Percy wasn't the only one to think so. Bia was as much in awe, listening intently as their papà told stories about his childhood here, together with their auntie Bianca, Bia's namesake. They hadn't gotten to meet auntie Bianca, but papà always spoke of her with very much love, so she must have been an awesome big sister, just like Percy's Bia was. Mamma was pushing a stroller with Jimmy and Silly, who were both only two years old and even though they could already run and babble a few words, long walks like right now were still too much for the little twins. On the little board behind the stroller stood Donny, right between the stroller and mamma's protection. His attentive eyes however were on papà.

"Let's head home for tonight", suggested mamma, looking at Percy, papà, Thess and Bia fondly.

Home was their summer home. Papà had promised they'd come to Venice more often now, because he had bought his old childhood home, which meant they were staying where papà had lived when he was their age. It had been in dire need of basic renovations, which was why they had only gotten to stay there now. But it was fine, because it was awesome and beautiful.

"Who's the old stuff from?", asked Percy eagerly, tilting his head back to stare at papà.

There had been a lot of old boxes in the house when papà had bought it. He turned to smile down at her, ruffling her curls, his dark eyes so soft and filled with love. The sun was setting and painted the funny looking houses and the pretty canals flowing through the whole city a beautiful red.

"Those belonged to my zia Elena", explained her papà patiently as they rounded a corner, heading toward the old house. "She used to live with my mamma, me and Bianca. She... lived in the house into the seventies. She left the house to a young man who had taken care of her when she got older and more... fragile. Apparently, he just kept all her old stuff in the attic. Since he passed away, the house has been empty. And now, well, now it's ours."

"I'm glad you have some family treasures back, Nick", whispered mamma, looking at papà with that special sparkle in his eyes that Percy knew meant just how much her parents loved each other.

"But Perce, I already have all the family treasures I could wish for right here", countered papà.

He rested his hands on Percy's and Thess' heads, causing the twins to stare up at him in adoration. Bia had fallen back so she could walk right next to Donny and the younger twins, to make sure they were fine, because she was an awesome big sister like that. Mamma laughed softly, which was a really nice sound that Percy liked very much. Papà was the best at making mamma laugh.

"I wanna live here", declared Thess next to Percy with determination in his voice.

"Yeah?", asked papà curiously.

"Uhu. When I'm really-really old like you and have my own husband and my own bambini, I wanna live right here where you grew up, papà", confirmed Thess, completely convinced.

"Me too!", exclaimed Percy hastily, jumping up and down. "If Thess lives here, I will too! Like nonna and your zia, right papà? Then we can be a family together and I'll be zia Percy!"

"Now, now, don't grow up too fast", warned papà, a fond smile on his lips. "For now, enjoy Italia as our family vacation, si? Tomorrow, we go to the beach and you can swim with mamma, that good?"

All the kids cheered at that idea, already occupied with the next thought and plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will have Bianca Maria's POV on staying over at uncle Tyson's (and aunt Ella's)!
> 
> Next update will be "Life at Novus Olympus Academy" on Saturday!


	11. U is for Uncle [April 2026]

**11\. U is for Uncle [April 2026]**

Bianca Maria was a child of the underworld, through and through. She united the sides of Hades that had been split between aunt Hazel and papà. So, one could say she wasn't too connected with the ocean. In fact, she wasn't even that good of a swimmer. But she was good at covering that up by declaring she'd be watching over her too-young-to-swim siblings.

There were only three things about the ocean that she truly loved. Her mamma, her grandpa Poseidon and her uncle Tyson. Uncle Tyson was one of her most favorite family members. Sure, they had lots and lots of aunts and uncles, who were simply friends with mamma and papà, but uncle Tyson was actually mamma's brother and he was funny and nice and he was really, really, really good at telling hero stories about mamma. So when the little di Angelos went to visit uncle Tyson at home, she got very, very excited. Mamma and papà said they wanted to spend some alone-time together and that was fine, because it meant Bia got to spend a whole, entire week with uncle Tyson and his wife, auntie Ella. Auntie Ella was amazing too, because she was really, really clever.

"I'm so happy to have you over, little di Angelos", chimed Tyson happily.

He had Donny and Bia perched up on his shoulders as he carried them over the beach. Ella was giggling as the two sets of twins were walking after her like little ducklings. The couple had moved to Ogygia, where Ella helped Calypso out at the hotel. Seeing as Tyson needed access to the ocean because he worked at the forges of Poseidon, but Ella couldn't live under the sea and both of them wanted a peaceful life. They reached the cozy house where uncle Tyson and auntie Ella lived, on the other side of Ogygia so they had some privacy apart from the busy vacation side.

"Uncle Tyson, can we make jewelry together?", asked Bianca Maria with pleading eyes.

So that was another reason why she loved her uncle so much, because he was really good at making elegant, fine metal work, while she herself could track down gems, so they made the prettiest things and then gave them to grandma Persephone or grandma Sally or their aunts and that always made them happy, so that in return made Bia happy. Tyson nodded with a broad grin.

"I wanna jewels too!", yelped Silly from behind Ella.

"Me too, me too!", exclaimed Jimmy, always fast to agree to whatever Silly wanted.

"Oh, I want jewelry too", gasped Thess excitedly, jumping up and down a bit. "I wanna make friendship necklaces for me and Lizzy so everyone sees we're best friends forever!"

Donny looked shy and not like he liked the idea, but uncle Tyson, being awesome like that, picked up on that and grinned at his oldest nephew. "Donny, why don't you and PJ go with Ella?"

"We could cook dinner together for when the others return", offered Ella with a smile.

"Italian!", exclaimed Percy Junior, waving her arms around. "I wanna make _pizza_!"

She said pizza like it was the most important food in the entire world. Donny perked up a little and let uncle Tyson cautiously lift him off his shoulder. Bia smiled as she watched her little brother run off to follow aunt Ella with Percy Junior, while Bia, Jimmy, Silly and Thess walked over to the forges behind the house with uncle Tyson. He always watched out that the little ones didn't go too close to the fire and wore their protective goggles and that they listened to every word he said. If they didn't listen, they couldn't come along, because then they may get hurt and uncle Tyson loved them very much and didn't want them to get hurt. Now that Bianca Maria was already eleven years old, she could even do a lot of stuff herself, while her younger siblings only got to work on the designs with uncle Tyson and pick out the materials, so uncle Tyson could make the jewelry.

"So, what do you wanna make today, Bia?", asked Tyson gently, putting down the girl.

"I dunno. I wanna make a skull-amulet for Donny's birthday", decided Bia after moment. "A really pretty one with sapphire eyes and a smile! Because Donny needs something pretty."

Uncle Tyson smiled and prepared everything so they could do just that, because he was awesome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is Jimmy's POV about meeting his new baby brother Jackie!


	12. A is for Adventure [June 2027]

**A is for Adventure [June 2027]**

Four was a stupid age. Jimmy didn't like it. Everyone was pinching his cheek and cooing like he was a puppy – with the black, messy curls and the large, loyal eyes. But he was _not_ a puppy!

Whatever. Things would be different from today on. He was no longer the youngest di Angelo! No more cheek-pinching and cooing! There was finally someone else to get his cheeks pinched!

"What's that?"

Jimmy yelped and fell back onto his butt in surprise. Tears gathered in his eyes and he started wailing until his sister walked over to him, petting his head. The one who had surprised him so much had waddled over to him too. The boy with the freckles frowned confused and sat down next to Jimmy. He leaned over and kissed Jimmy's cheeks, all wet and slobbery.

"What's that for?", huffed Jimmy and wiggled his nose.

"Mommy does it when I cry", shrugged Basty with a frown and turned back to the cage in front of them. "What's that? It's new. Is it a pet? It's so tiny. Looks weird."

"You're more silly than me!", yelped Silly dramatically. "He's not an 'it'! He's our new brother!"

"No", decided Basty, frown deepening as he stuck his hand through the bars to poke the pink little thing. "Your brother is Thess. And Donny. They're taller and righter. And not locked away."

"He's a baby", supplied Jimmy and tilted his head. "He's like we were. Mommy says he'll grow. Daddy says we'll have lots of adventures with him. Like Donny has with Thess."

"Babies look weird", decided Basty and poked the little thing's cheek again. "What's its name?"

" _His_ ", corrected Silly and looked at him like he was stupid. "And his name is Jack."

Jimmy grinned from ear to ear as he pressed his face between the bars to look at his little brother. Basty wasn't right. Jack didn't look weird. A little funny, maybe. All pink and squishy and tiny. But he was also awesome. He had like really totally large eyes and always stared at him from every side like an owl. He had the same eyes as Silly and Percy and Donny and mommy.

"Jack will have lots of adventures with us", hummed Jimmy determined. "It'll be fun."

"I dunno", mumbled Basty and shook his head. "It's so tiny. What can it do?"

"He!", exclaimed Silly, waving her arms around in frustration. "It's a boy like you, for mommy's sake! What's so hard to understand?! Gah. You boys are all stupid. Not you, Jimmy."

Jimmy smiled brightly as Silly petted his head again. He liked being petted and cuddled. Jack giggled a little and Jimmy turned back to him, watching how Basty reached into the baby-cage to tickle the little boy. Bia had taught Donny everything and she had taught Percy everything, Donny had taught Thess everything, Thess and Bia had taught Silly everything, Donny and Thess had taught him everything. There was always someone to look up to. But this time, this time it was Jimmy's turn. Jimmy and Silly would teach Jack everything. How to be awesome and prank others and be pretty (because Silly insisted, but Jimmy didn't mind). It would be really great and they could have all their adventures, but Jack would be there and totally admire them for being so awesome. Jimmy grinned broadly at that thought. Mommy had said that everything could be an adventure and when Jimmy had said that the little pink worm didn't look like an adventure, mommy had said that that would be totally Jimmy's fault then, because _everything_ could be an adventure if you did it right. So Jimmy was totally gonna do this right and be all epic and adventure-y.

"He'd be our sidekick", explained Jimmy as he saw the still skeptical look on his best friend's face.

"Oh. Like Tinkerbell is Peter Pan's sidekick?", asked Basty.

"She is not!", yelped Silly upset. "She's way more awesome and has way more movies than he does and she's pretty and a fairy and you're stupid! Mommy! Basty is stupid!"

Jimmy frowned as he watched his sister run out the room. Sometimes, girls were weird, but it was better (safer) not to upset Silly. Still, he was kinda glad Jack wasn't a complicated girl but a boy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter that'll be updated is going to be Percy's POV on being a mother to seven hyperactive little devils. The ordinary chaos of the di Angelo household, you could say.


	13. Ü is for Über-Mom [July 2027]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because if you do the math and we got 9 di Angelos but the English alphabeth only got 26 letters, that doesn't work out. So I figured I'd borrow one from our alphabeth since the English language already borrows the word but misspells it anyway! Über is not spelt uber, you can't just leave 'unnecessary' details out because you normally don't use that letter. It's like with m and n, you can't just not draw that second arch, because then it becomes a different letter. *shakes head* Sooo we get up to 27 letters, which means three POVs per di Angelo in this fic, which pleases me ^o^v
> 
> Next chapter is gonna be about Jimmy and his fear of Halloween!
> 
> And the next update is going to be "Life at Novus Olympus Academy" on Wednesday!

**13\. Ü is for Über-Mom [July 2027]**

"Are you sure you're going to be okay? I could still just... cancel. Someone else could go instead."

Percy, with one four-years-old twin on either shoulder, turned to stare at Nico for a second, before the two older siblings came running into the room, Percy Junior and Thess both being nine by now and more energetic than ever before. They circled Percy and Nico for a few times before dashing out again. Rolling his eyes, Percy slowly put Jimmy and Silly onto their respective seats at the dining table before turning back to where he had been preparing their dinner.

"Niccoló, I love you, but believe me, I got this. Go on your quest. You said this was important, right? So go on your important quest with Grover and Piper. I got the house and kids covered. It's just a weekend you said, right?", countered Percy amused. "Go, I got this. I always did."

"Yes, but... the last time I had to leave you over the weekend was before the twins and... now there's the baby too", countered Nico worried. "No, I'll just give Piper a call, they need to go alone."

Percy put the plates on the table in front of Jimmy and Silly before turning around and grabbing Nico by the tie to pull him into a kiss. "Go. I got this. I handled titans, I'll handle our kids."

"If... you're sure", muttered Nico doubtfully before stealing another kiss.

/break\

"Seaweed Brain, I bring food and come to check up on you!", called Annabeth out, entering the di Angelo house with her spare-key, carrying the casserole in. "I talked to Piper and she complained that Nico kept complaining how he's worried about you and how you're holding up!"

It was Saturday evening and Grover, Piper and Nico had left for Germany to check in on the progress of Heldenheim, so Annabeth figured she'd help Percy out since he had seven kids to look after for the first time all on his own. But once she entered the kitchen, she was left stunned. She could see Percy standing in the kitchen, cleaning up while Silly and Jimmy were eating, with Jack in his baby-stool, throwing mashed potatoes at his siblings, with Donny trying to feed him and Bianca Maria cleaning up the mess the baby made. Percy Junior and Thess were standing next to Percy with towels, trying whatever their mom handed them before passing it on to the other twin to dry up again, just to make sure. Stepping closer, she saw that dinner hadn't been instant or anything, but that it apparently had been salmon with spinach and potatoes.

"That's nice, but why don't you take care of your own family?", offered Percy amused. "I got this."

"I... can see that", stated Annabeth surprised. "But... _how_?! I mean, Thea and Luke are always fighting whenever Piper isn't home, Mattie is a crier and Fred is the pickiest eater."

"Jack is a picky eater too, but I know what he likes and what he doesn't like. I don't know why people are trying to force their kids to eat vegetables they don't like. Jackie doesn't like peas, so he doesn't get peas. He loves, however, potatoes. Bia is twelve and Donny is eleven and they know that with all the siblings, they gotta help out some. So do PJ and Thess", stated Percy casually. "Everyone's done their homework and once Jackie is fed and the little twins are bathed, we're gonna watch a movie together, because everyone has been so good and helpful, right, bambini?"

Percy Junior, Thess, Bianca Maria and Donny were cheering loudly at that. Annabeth blinked, feeling a little guilty now as she sat down at the table, staring enviously over at Percy.

"You really got the hang of this", sighed Annabeth. "How do you make them... help? I'm lost."

"Bribing", replied Percy easily. "Give them something they want in return for helping out. Like, a piece of chocolate, or their favorite cartoon, or their favorite story. It's easy and I told Nico I got this. They're my babies, I wanted them, all of them, so I know how to handle them."


	14. M is for Monsters [October 2028]

**14\. M is for Monsters [October 2028]**

"Okay. Two Disney princesses, one DreamWorks hero, one puppy and one kitten and one little frog", mused Percy as he checked through his kids. "...One's missing. Silly, where's Jimmy?"

Silly straightened her Ariel princess dress and shrugged with a frown. "I dunno, mommy."

Sighing, Percy handed Jackie in his frog costume over to Bianca Maria in her Merida princess dress, kissing the little frog on the forehead before heading upstairs once more. Thess the kitten and Percy the puppy were chasing each other around the living room table, while Nico sat on the couch with Donny who was dressed up as Hiccup. Nico himself was dressed as Batman while Percy was dressed as Nightwing. They were all ready to leave for the big Halloween party Annabeth was throwing in the city hall for their generation and their kids. There was only one missing.

"Hey there, Jimmy", whispered Percy softly as he laid down on the floor in front of Jimmy's bed.

The five-years-old boy stared out at his mommy with frightened eyes. "Hello, mommy."

"What's up, buttercup?", asked Percy as he crawled under the bed to join his son, smiling soothingly at Jimmy and pulling him into a hug. "Why are we hiding down there?"

"Because we won't want the scary monsters to find us", mumbled Jimmy softly.

Percy's eyes widened in realization. Jimmy was five, this year had been his and Silly's first summer at camp. They had seen _real_ monsters for the very first time. Apparently, suddenly the fun monsters of Halloween and cartoons were not quite as funny anymore. Pulling Jimmy closer (and effectively hitting his head on the bed), Percy kissed his son's cheek.

"Tesorino, I love you", whispered Percy firmly. "I love you and I will _always_ protect you. You know mommy and daddy are big heroes, right? We'd never let any monster hurt you."

"...The other kids says that", mused Jimmy, tilting his head. "They say that my mommy is a really-really big hero. I always thinked you just say that because all mommies and daddies say that to their kids. But _everyone_ says my mommy is the biggest hero..."

Percy blushed a bit in embarrassment. "I wouldn't say the biggest hero, but... yeah, pretty big. So, you see, your mommy would never let anything or anyone harm you, bambino."

"Pinkie-promise?", asked Jimmy, sticking his little finger up.

Percy grinned and hooked fingers. "Pinkie-promise. You'll be all-all safe with us."

"And mommy will stay with me all day?", asked Jimmy unsure. "To make sure no monsters come?"

"Mommy won't leave your side", promised Percy, kissing the top of Jimmy's head. "Now, will you come out of the hiding place and we dress you up for the party?"

"Can I be Eric?", asked Jimmy hopefully. "Silly is Ariel, right? I wanna be Eric then!"

"Sure, why not?", chuckled Percy as they crawled out from their hiding place.

Once he got Jimmy into his costume and had him on his arm, Percy proceeded back downstairs where the rest of the family was waiting. Nico, with Jackie shouldered, leaned over to kiss Jimmy's nose and the corner of Percy's mouth before ushering all their off-springs out. Jimmy climbed up onto Percy's shoulders, arms wrapped around Percy's forehead.

"So, what was the problem?", asked Nico, holding Silly's hand with his free hand.

"Jimmy was afraid of the monsters", replied Percy. "But we got it all worked out, right?"

"Mommy will protect me", declared Jimmy, face hidden in Percy's hair.

"That he will", agreed Nico with fond, tender eyes. "Mommy will always be there for all of us."

"And so will daddy", countered Percy with a smirk.

"And Silly!", declared Silly loudly, jumping up and down. "I'll always protect you too, Jimmy!"

Jimmy hummed softly, smiling against his mommy's hair, watching how his siblings ran and played and chatted while all those scarily costumed others were walking around New Athens. But it was okay, because mommy and daddy were going to protect him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to focus on Bianca Maria and Percy and Percy being an awesome mom (because what else is new? *grins*)!
> 
> Also, my updating schedule can from now on be found on my profile.


	15. H is for Homework [November 2028]

**15\. H is for Homework [November 2028]**

When Bianca Maria was in seventh grade, she started struggling with math. It was unsettling and amusing to watch for Nico, really. Not that he gained amusement from his daughter's suffering, but she had always excelled at everything she did. So seeing her struggle with something was a new and interesting turn of events. Sipping his coffee, Nico silently watched her muttering curses at her homework once again. The curious thing however was less her struggle but more how it was handled. And just on cue, Percy walked into the kitchen and sat down next to their daughter. This was the part that confused and intrigued Nico. Percy di Angelo was helping their daughter with math. Percy the seaweed brain who hadn't even done his own homework.

"You're the greatest mom on the planet!", exclaimed Bia after about half an hour.

She threw herself at Percy, hugging the air out of him with a brilliant smile. Percy blushed at the praise and returned the hug eagerly. It made Nico smile. He still remembered how nervous Percy had been when he had been first pregnant with Bianca Maria, about being a bad parent, about failing their child. Bia kissed Percy's cheek and dashed upstairs, saying something about now having time to go and meet up with Cally. But Nico was still suspicious. Not that he doubted his husband's brain – he knew Percy was brilliant in his own way. That way just wasn't school. Putting his coffee mug down, he walked over to Percy and kissed his husband's temple. Tomorrow he would get behind the secret of Percy's infinite math knowledge. He had already arranged with Piper that he'd go in late. Bia had left behind some other papers with homework due to next week. With that, Nico would find out his husband's secret. Percy looked at him oddly.

"You're wearing your world-domination face again, love", pointed Percy out, raising one eyebrow.

"Ah, just... thinking about some things", dismissed Nico, stealing a kiss.

/break\

The next morning, after their children left for school, Nico followed after Percy. He had already 'left' half an hour ago, laying in wait just around the corner. He followed Percy sneakily and was only mildly surprised that Percy was heading for the Chases. Suddenly, Percy whirled around.

"Are you following me?", inquired Percy with a frown, glaring at him. "Oh come on, I know since we turned corners into Alexandria Avenue, Nick. Like I couldn't sense your presence."

"I just... want to know your secret", sighed Nico, catching up to Percy. "You've been sneaking around for weeks now and suddenly you can answer every question about math... It's weird."

"Well, Sherlock, your husband has been visiting me", declared a female voice from behind.

The couple turned toward an amused Annabeth, holding what looked like a copy of Bia's math text book in her hand. Nico slowly began to understand. It made sense. He followed Percy to the door.

"I'm... getting a headstart on what topics Bia's class will do next", admitted Percy, blushing a bit.

"I figured that out by now too", grunted Nico. "But... why? Couldn't Annabeth just help Bia?"

Annabeth smiled in a way that said 'I offered that too', but the smile also seemed oddly sad while Percy sighed in defeat. "Because she calls me the greatest mom on the planet. Our daughter thinks I'm clever. And... And I want to keep it that way... I don't want our children to ever be ashamed of me because I'm dumb. I never want them to call me a seaweed brain, even though you guys may mean it in an affectionate way, I just... I want to keep being the greatest mom on the planet."

Nico's eyes softened as he looked over at Annabeth. He had been wondering why Annabeth had stopped calling Percy a seaweed brain a few years ago. Now he understood. Laying one arm around Percy's shoulders, he pulled his husband in to kiss him lovingly.

"Well then, let's get some math done, greatest mom on the planet", whispered Nico tenderly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will focus on Silly and her first visit in Germany, on one of their family vacations!


	16. S is for Schwarzwald [December 2028]

**16\. S is for Schwarzwald [December 2028]**

The most exciting thing was happening in the winter when Silly was five. She was holding onto Jimmy's hand and pulling him along. He stumbled along after his twin-sister, but never out of their parents' sight. They were spending winter break in Germany, because Nyssa and Kayla had invited most of their generation to drop by and check out their greatest achievement – Heldenheim, the European version of New Athens. Everything looked so different from New York, New Athens or New Rome. Such cute houses and so much nature, it felt so different, with such a different culture.

"The day trip was a great idea, love", declared Nico amused, pushing the stroller with Jack in it.

Percy Junior and Bianca Maria were window shopping at a store with expensive jewelry, while Donny and Thess were more interested in staring out at the lake. After exploring about every inch of Heldenheim, they had decided to explore all of the Black Forest a little more. Right now, they were on a day trip to Titisee, a large lake with lots of tourist shops all around it.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy!", exclaimed Silly excited as she hopped up and down in front of Percy. "This is all so pretty! All the mountains with the pretty, dark trees all around. It's like being all surrounded by forest! What's it called, mommy?"

"It's called Schwarzwald", answered Percy with a smile as he knelt down in front of Nico. "That's German for Black Forest, because all the dark trees make it look, well, black. It's also the place where your daddy asked for my hand, you know? Not exactly here, but in the Black Forest."

"Wow", whispered Silly in awe, tugging some more on Jimmy's hand. "S—Swartzwald?"

"Close", grinned Percy and patted her head.

"I wanna learn German!", declared Silly determined, locking eyes with Jimmy. "It sounds funny! And mommy knows it too, right, mommy? You can teach me! I wanna learn!"

"I learned it because after your daddy proposed to me in Germany, we decided to spend our honeymoon here too and I wanted to learn more about the culture and all and then I ended up learning the language", confirmed Percy fondly. "If you wanna learn, I can teach you?"

"They're already learning Italian", countered Nico unsure.

"They're not 'learning' Italian, they were raised bilingual. It comes natural to them at this point and you can learn languages better when you're younger and it's very valuable to know other languages", argued Percy and got up to pull Nico into a soft kiss.

"If Silly wants to learn, I wanna too", hummed Jimmy curiously, looking around.

"Oh! And I wanna drive over the lake! Can we get on a boat?", asked Silly next.

"That girl has too much energy and wants too much at once", pointed Nico out fondly.

"Well, she's my daughter and since I got _everything_ ", declared Percy with a teasing smirk and turned around. "Bia, Donny, Junior, Thess! Come, let's take a ride on one of the boats!"

The four instantly ran up to their mom and surrounded him. Nico snorted fondly and leaned against the stroller, Jack inside giggling and reaching out into the direction of Percy too. Nico took the chubby little hand to tickle it while watching Percy being circled by their kids.

"Those little ducklings would follow you anywhere", pointed Nico out and started pushing the stroller. "And since not-fond-of-water me just got outvoted by everyone, let's take a boat tour."

Percy grinned mischievously and high fived his children one by one. He then took Silly and Thess by the hands, each twin having their respective other twin on their other hand, while Donny and Bia ran over to walk with their daddy and the baby. Silly grinned brightly as they climbed the boat and got seats with the best view on the deck so they could overlook the entire beautiful lake. She was so happy, because she had the best mommy and the best family and this was an awesome vacation and she loved this Black Forest and Germany. And mommy was going to teach her and Jimmy this new funny language, which also meant more mommy-time. And wasn't life awesome?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how waaay back at the beginning of "Chasing Fireflies" I said that while Percy Junior and Thess are more inclined toward Italian, Silly and Jimmy learned German? This right here is the moment they decided that~
> 
> Next chapter is gonna feature Nicercy celebrating their Crystal Anniversary! ♥
> 
> And in other news, I did some math and realized that with my current updating schedule where every story gets updated once a month, I'd be done with this in a year and that's just ridiculous considering the chapter lengths, so I decided to take it out of the regular Wednesday-Saturday-updating-routation and instead update this one every Monday from now on!


	17. F is for Forever [May 2029]

**17\. F is for Forever [May 2029]**

Everything was perfect to the dot on the 'I'. Literally, actually, because there was a gigantic banner reading _Happy Crystal Anniversary_ hanging in the living room and the dot on the 'I' was a blue heart. Nico had spend the entire morning setting everything up. Sure, normally Nico started working in the afternoon once Percy would be home from his work at the dojo so they could take turns watching the kids. As soon as Percy had left the house in the morning however, Nico had dropped all the kids off at kindergarten and school and then brought little Jackie to Sally and Paul. Nico cleaned the house up faster than ever before and decorated it so once Percy would return home, they could celebrate their fifteenth wedding anniversary. Lunch was on the table, steaming and smelling delicious by the time Percy entered the house. The Sea Prince looked stunned and in awe as he saw the hundreds of sparkly differently blue colored crystals hanging from the ceiling.

"Happy Crystal Anniversary, mio amato marito", purred Nico and pulled Percy into a kiss.

"Uhm. Right. I... bought you flowers and uh, pizza? So we could eat together before you gotta get to work, but... you... seem to have other plans", whispered Percy in awe.

He put the pizza down to touch an azure-blue dolphin hanging just next to him. There were so many differently shaped crystal figures hanging everywhere, painting the entire room in soft blue colors from where the crystals broke the light. Nico chuckled and kissed along Percy's neck.

"I figured that we could spend our fifteenth anniversary a little more special than that. I made your favorite, so why don't we put the pizza away for tonight?", suggested Nico.

He took the black roses from Percy with a fond smile and a kiss to the corner of Percy's mouth before leading him to the dinner table that was set with black candles and the prepared meal. Percy smiled as he sat down opposite his husband and they started eating in the soft blue light.

"But don't you have to go to work?", questioned Percy doubtfully. "It's delicious, by the way."

"Took the day off", shrugged Nico with a smirk. "Hazel gave me the idea, with her jewelry. I just wanted everything to be as pretty as my husband, spend a nice lazy afternoon with you. We haven't had one of those since Jack's been born, I think. So... I figured that'd be a nice plan?"

"You. Are. Perfect", sighed Percy pleased and leaned over for another kiss as he refilled their wine glasses. "Happy anniversary indeed. I love you, Nick. Can't believe it's been fifteen years, mh?"

"And each day seems better than the last", grinned Nico in a happy, dorky way.

Percy snorted amused, a warm utterly pleased feeling spreading through his entire body, because even after fifteen years, the thought of being with Percy still put that dorky, dopey grin on Nico's lips, because Nico still liked him like he had when they were teens and Percy _loved_ that.

"You're the best damn thing that's ever happened to me", whispered Percy in awe.

"Likewise", grinned Nico teasingly. "Dessert?"

"Did you ever hear me say 'no' to dessert?", grunted Percy unimpressed.

"Dessert in the living room while watching _Doctor Who_?", offered Nico with a smirk.

"You know me so well", hummed Percy pleased and got up to get the double chocolate cake. "You have been very busy today, huh? You know... You know how to make me feel cherished."

"Because I cherish you", stated Nico casually, wrapping one arm around Percy's waist.

Percy yelped amused as he was pulled up against Nico and stole another kiss before the two of them headed over to the blue-lit living room and cuddled up on the couch while eating cake. Something in Percy really wanted to get laid, but the bigger part was just glad to lay down, relax and do nothing that needed concentration or required him to move. Eating chocolate cake and cuddling with the love of his life, now that was all he needed. And Nico? Nico knew that. Nico knew exactly what his Percy needed and when he needed it. He knew how to make Percy smile and he loved that smile. He loved just holding Percy, listening to him fanboy ramble. He loved Percy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week's update is gonna be a special treat! The chapter will focus on Thess, him visiting his best friend Lizzy in New Rome with some others. Among them, Luke. Cue in the first impressions. And to tie into that chapter, I plan on posting the oneshot "Charmed by a Siren"; the story on how Luke and Thess got together ;)


	18. R is for Romans [June 2029]

**18\. R is for Romans [June 2029]**

"This is gonna be the most exciting vacation in the history of ever!", declared Thess excited.

Nico smiled fondly at his young son. Thess and Percy Junior were eleven years old and they were looking forward to spending their very first summer in New Rome. Nico had mentioned it at work and Piper and Lou had thought that a good idea, to acquaint their Greek off-springs with the Roman off-springs. So instead of just dumping Thess and Junior at the Masons', he was also bringing Luke Chase and Kitty Ellen along. Thess didn't have too many friends, he was mainly hanging out with his twin-sister like she was all he needed. He had, however befriended Lizzy Mason the day she got adopted by Jake and Will. The two IMed regularly and Thess was utterly excited to spend the whole summer over in Camp Jupiter with his very best friend in the entire world.

"We're gonna watch out for them", promised Will amused as the two adults looked over the kids.

Nico too turned to watch them in amusement. Thess and Lizzy were hugging tightly, the pretty little blonde smiling so brightly at seeing her best friend in the flesh. Percy Junior looked a bit annoyed and jealous, while Luke and Kitty stood around rather bored. They were only here because of their moms, after all. They didn't have anything to do with the di Angelo twins aside from maybe having shared lessons during camp. This year however they would be the ones they knew the best, so an unspoken law said they would be spending this summer together.

"So... who's that?", asked Luke as he stepped up to Thess, looking the blonde girl up and down.

Thess jumped a little and turned to look at Luke, shifting a bit. "That's Lizzy Mason, she's a daughter of Apollo, but the Roman-version, and she's my best friend. Lizzy, those are Luke Chase, Kitty Ellen and you remember my twin-sister Percy, right?"

"It's nice to meet you all", smiled Lizzy and bowed deep. "Let me show you the Fifth Cohort! You can meet my friends Sammy Marie and Thyl, they're very nice!"

"This is gonna suck, isn't it, Luke?", muttered Kitty as she turned toward her best friend.

Luke shrugged, arms behind his head. "Moms said I need more discipline. Yours did too. It was uncle Nico's idea that the Romans could teach us discipline."

"Like that's gonna work", snorted Kitty and rolled her eyes. "Hey, what about you, di Angelo?"

Percy was startled and turned toward the brunette witch girl. "My name's Percy. You know that."

"Yeah, but your mom's name is Percy too", grunted Kitty with a doubtful look. "How about SP then? Like Sally Persephone, it's your name, right? I heard your mom call you that."

"Mom only does that to bug me", muttered Percy and wiggled her nose. "Whatever..."

"Are you coming now, gemella?!", groaned Thess annoyed and grabbed her hand.

She yelped as she was pulled along after Lizzy by a very excited Thess. Kitty and Luke exchanged a doubtful look before shrugging and just following the other three, since there were not a lot of other options that they had. Lizzy was talking about a hundred miles an hour as she showed them around Camp Jupiter. Thess grinned like an excited maniac as he followed his best friend, their pinkies linked and both giggling. Mommy had braided Thess' bangs this morning to tie his hair back with because it kept getting longer and Thess refused to get it cut. But mommy also said that it was okay, as long as it made Thess feel pretty he could wear his hair however he wanted.

"Oh my gosh, we could go and visit San Francisco! Maybe my dads are going to take us one weekend?", suggested Lizzy excitedly, eyes large as she hopped up and down.

"My grandparents and uncles live in San Francisco", mused Luke thoughtful.

"Really?", asked Thess surprised, turning toward the blonde boy. "That's cool."

Thess nodded and blinked. This summer was going to be awesome. And interesting, because he'd get to know Kitty and Luke better and meet all those Romans and spend all summer with his twin-sister and his best friend. Officially the best summer ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since today's chapter features the first real meeting between Luke and Thess, I thought it fit to simultaneously post the story of how they got together - it's called "Charmed by a Siren" ;)
> 
> Next chapter is going to center around Jimmy and Silly and how they deal with the fact that Silly is mainly a pretty girl and not a fighter, which earns her teasing from other campers who think she's more like a daughter of Aphrodite than a daughter of the Percy Jackson


	19. T is for Training [September 2029]

**19\. T is for Training [September 2029]**

It was an unwritten rule that children could only attend camp at the age of five and older. Jimmy and Silly had returned home from their first summer at camp a few weeks ago and Silly was displeased by it. It had been close to a disaster. They teased her for being a princess and said she belonged more to the Aphrodite Cabin than deserving to be a child of _the_ Percy Jackson. She didn't understand that. Her mommy was Percy di Angelo and of course he was special because he was her mommy, but why shouldn't she deserve to be her mommy's daughter? She knew her mommy loved her and called her his princess – and that was good. So she disliked that they thought differently.

"Come, come, Schwesterherz!", exclaimed Jimmy loudly, jumping up and down.

Silly didn't question it. Jimmy was easily excited and if he wanted her to come, it was best to follow him. Getting up, she let her twin-brother pull her along. Sneaking out of the house wasn't hard, dad was at work and mom was busy with little Jackie. For being a tiny baby, he demanded a lot of attention and made a lot of chaos. But he was kinda cute, so it was easy to forgive him.

"What are we doing here?", asked Silly confused when they reached their mom's workplace.

Jimmy just grinned broadly as he grabbed Silly's hand and pulled her inside. In one of the training rooms was Clarisse Rodriguez standing, all training clothes and serious look on her face. In front of her sat her youngest child, Silly's friend Carry, together with Fred Chase. The two other children turned toward them and grinned at the twins, waving wildly. Clarisse clapped loudly.

"Well then, students. Let's pair up and grab one of the training swords!", ordered Clarisse.

"What are we doing here?", asked Silly confused as Fred and Carry got up.

"Jimmy said you were sad because they teased you at camp", explained Carry as she handed Silly a sword. "So I told mommy and mommy said you could train with us. Then you can show them that you're strong like your mom and awesome. Mommy will teach you to be awesome."

"Atta, girl", laughed Clarisse, patting her daughter's head.

Carry grinned broadly up at her mother while Silly frowned thoughtful. She turned to look at her twin-brother who was already happily sparring with Fred. Leave it up to Jimmy to fix things for Silly again. She smiled as she looked at him. He always knew what to do.

"And when you taught us how to fight, they won't make fun of me again?", asked Silly skeptically, turning to look up at the adult. "I'll be strong like mommy and no one will make fun of me?"

Clarisse sighed as she knelt down next to Silena, looking the girl deep in the eyes. "Your mom, he's strong now, but he wasn't always either. There was a time he had been teased and made fun of too. But he trained hard and became a great hero with many friends. You can too, kiddo."

Silly brightened at that, back straightening. She couldn't believe that her mom had ever been anything but totally awesome and strong. That wasn't possible, because no one was more awesome than her mommy. Still, assuming that maybe auntie Clarisse was right, then her mom had managed what Silly wanted. So since she was her mom's daughter, surely she could do it too.

"Okay. Tell me what I need to do to become awesome!", exclaimed Silly.

She grabbed her wooden sword and turned her full attention on auntie Clarisse. So far, she hadn't shown much interest in training. After all, she was only six, so her parents didn't push the matter either. If their kids didn't want to train early on, they didn't have to. But now she had a motivation to learn. She was not a push-over. Just because she liked jewels and collected pearls and wore pretty dresses did not mean she was a push-over. Someone could be pretty and still a hero, her mommy had said so, because she was named after such a hero. There had been a hero named Silena who had been beautiful and brave. Silly aimed to be just that. Because if she could be brave, then she could protect her brother and no one would make fun of her and her twin. Grinning broadly, Silly did everything as Clarisse told her to, having a fun afternoon with her brother and friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight updating-announcement. Due to my classes starting again, I will not be able to maintain the schedule I had going on for the past months (I genuinely have no idea how I was able to do that to begin with), so this story will move to a permanent place on Wednesday and the other stories will keep rotating, but only on Saturdays from now on.
> 
> Next chapter for this story is again featuring Silly and Jimmy and how they explore Olympus ;)


	20. O is for Olympus [March 2030]

**20\. O is for Olympus [March 2030]**

"This is amazing", whispered Silly in awe as she stared around with wide eyes.

Her sea-green eyes sparkled in excitement as she tried to take in as much as possible of her surroundings. There was a hill in front of them, with a fancy looking stairway leading up to the palace. And oh, the palace was a dream. It was so beautiful and posh and gigantic, all white marble and golden decorations and colorfully painted statues of basically all the gods.

"Silly", whispered Jimmy, tugging on his twin-sister's hand. "We're supposed to stay with the group. We're not supposed to wander off. What if we get lost?"

Silly huffed and rolled her eyes as she kept pulling Jimmy along, further and further away from their class. They were on a school trip to Mount Olympus. Mister Chiron did them with every class and now it was finally their turn! Silly had been looking forward to this ever since they started elementary school. She had never been to Olympus before. The underwater palace? Yeah, sure. Like, all the time. The underworld palace? Been there, done that. But Olympus? Not ever.

"Since when are you the responsible one of this duo, Jimmy?"

Silly tried not to groan as Basty Ellen emerged from behind a pillar, grinning mischievously. "I'm not being irresponsible, I'm just being _curious_. This is Olympus, this is the palace of the gods! I want to see _everything_ and not just the boring stuff Mister Chiron will show us!"

Basty looked intrigued by this and walked up to them, taking Jimmy's free hand. The youngest of the trio found himself pulled along by Silly and Basty as they went to explore Olympus. Which, yes, was all shades of awesome. Silly was hooked. She had found many new things she wanted to try in their bedroom – the statues, for example, and maybe a fancy pillar or something. The only problem however was that somehow, they had ventured too deep. Neither of them knew how to get back to wherever their group was. Well, they didn't even know where their group was.

"And how do we get back now, Silly?", asked Jimmy doubtfully.

"Easy. You shadow-travel us home", shrugged Basty casually.

"Yeah, and then mom and dad find us and be angry with us because Mister Chiron will have spent lots of time looking for us", countered Jimmy with a deadpan.

Silly looked troubled. She knew this was bad. She didn't like getting in trouble with their parents. She liked being the lovely little princess. How could they get back without any trouble...?

"Well, well, well, if it isn't two of my favorite little grandchildren?"

Silly, Jimmy and Basty turned toward the voice and Silly's face brightened into a smile before she ran over into the open arms of grandpa Poseidon. He smelt just like mommy – like the sea and warmth and fun. Laughing, he hugged her and lifted her up in the air for one whirl. Once he put her down, he went to get Jimmy, lifting him up onto his shoulders.

"What are you doing here, grandpa?", asked Jimmy eagerly, clinging onto Poseidon's neck.

"Well, I was actually on a council meeting", answered Poseidon amused, holding onto Jimmy with one arm and patting Silly's head with his other hand. "And then I spotted Chiron outside and remembered that Percy mentioned you two are scheduled for a school trip today."

"We got lost", hummed Jimmy, resting his chin on Poseidon's head.

"Then let's get you back to your group", chuckled Poseidon.

Silly and Basty obediently followed him until they returned to Chiron and their class. The centaur looked very irritated with them and Silly instinctively hid behind her grandpa's leg.

"You three are in trouble", stated Chiron firmly. "Deep trouble."

"Ah, but the poor little ones got lost", grinned Poseidon with that apologetic, charming smile that he had passed on to Percy. "I just found them. They were _desperately_ searching for you."

Chiron looked doubtful, but didn't argue with the Sea God. "Very well. But no more wandering off."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will focus on Jack, who has a gazillion questions about everything, and his family, who have the patience of a saint *chuckles*


	21. Q is for Questions [June 2030]

**21\. Q is for Questions [June 2030]**

"Why don't I have a girl mom? Or no, why do others have a girl mom?"

Nico blinked very slowly as he put his book down to turn to the mini Percy next to him. Jack was laying next to Nico on the bed, legs kicking up into the air. He stared up at his papà with the largest sea-green eyes possible, clearly bored and feeling the need to be entertained.

"Because...", started Nico unsure, trying to find the right words for a three-years old. "Your mamma is _very_ special. Normally, only girls can be mommies. But very few boys, like your mamma or your uncle Leo, they're... boys but still can be moms."

Jack frowned for a moment before nodding. "Okay. I go play with my siblings!"

Nico nodded slowly and watched how Jack ran off. Bianca Maria was in the middle of doing her hair when Jack barged into the bathroom. With her other siblings, she would have glared, but Jack? Ever since he learned how to walk, he was running around the house in utter excitement and it was actually quite adorable. For a few moments, Jack just sat there and watched her.

"Why do you spend so much time in the bath with your hair?", asked Jack confused. "I don't..."

"Well, some girls and some boys like... looking very pretty when going out", explained Bianca Maria with a smile before turning to Jack and carefully braiding his hair. "Because it's fun."

Jack frowned, not really understanding, but he liked when Bia spent time with him. He smiled brightly as she braided his hair and once she was done, he dashed off to see what his other siblings were doing. PJ and Thess were playing dress-up, with Thess in a pretty princess dress and his twin-sister PJ in a knight-costume. The two were laughing and running around their bedroom.

"Why's Thess the princess? Princesses are girls", frowned Jack, tilting his head.

PJ and Thess exchanged a mischievous look before pulling a plushie dragon-costume over Jack's head. "Because this is fun. I like doing the saving and Thess likes pretending to be a princess. See. Now you're the really dangerous dragon holding the princess hostage, but that doesn't make you a _real_ dragon either, right Jackie? So Thess can pretend to be a princess."

Jack nodded pleased by their logic before he went all 'rawr' and chased a giggling Thess through the room until PJ caught him and tickled him into submission. Pleased with the time he had spent with his older siblings, he decided to go find the other twins. They were in the living room, leaning over their homework, groaning about it as their mom handing them cookies for everything they did right.

"Why do Silly and Jimmy things they don't like?", asked Jack very confused, climbing mom's lap.

Percy laughed as he grabbed his youngest son by the waist and pulled him up properly. "It's called school. It means you will learn a lot. Ll the questions you always ask, school will help answer them. But there are always things that are boring or hard and you don't want to do them. They're still part of it though. And that's why there are cookies for that!"

Percy smiled brightly and handed Jimmy a cookie. Frowning, Jack leaned over the table to see what his siblings were doing. They were writing words and sentences, but Jimmy's handwriting was really messy. Silly's looked pretty. Tilting his head, Jack turned toward where Donny sat on the floor, cuddling with Mrs. O'Leary, who really enjoyed her scratches. Jack freed himself from his mother's grasp and hopped over to cuddle up between Donny and dog.

"When can I go to school?", asked Jack hopefully. "I wanna have all the answers!"

"Don't be too eager, tesorino", grinned Donny, ruffling Jack's hair. "It's not all awesome."

"Please don't make the little one afraid of school before he even has to start", chided Percy gravely.

"Why doesn't Donny like school?", asked Jack confused.

"Because Donny's not as popular as me", chimed Silly. "But it's okay, because _we_ love Donny."

Donny's face softened as he looked at the younger twins and this time, Jack didn't have to ask, because he knew what that expression meant. Nothing was better than being a di Angelo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this one turned out kinda cheesy *grins* Next one will feature Thess taking the younger twins to a trip to the underworld!


	22. E is for Elysium [July 2030]

**22\. E is for Elysium [July 2030]**

Thess had three siblings who could shadowtravel and maybe he should have asked them to do this, or they could have thought of this themselves, but around here, he was the one who thought of such things. He smiled at the two eager twins clinging onto him from either side. Their seventh birthday had been just last week. They had asked about where their names came from and mamma and papà had tried their best to explain it. Thess wasn't sure why no one saw the obvious solution.

"Where are we going, big brother?", asked Jimmy with those large, begging eyes.

Thess grinned, one arm around each of them, holding onto the collar of Mrs. O'Leary. He let the hellhound lead them through the shadows. Silly yelped displeased and clung tightly to Thess' side. Thess smiled and pulled her closer. He understood why she was afraid of the shadows, after all, they were both children of the sea and not of the underworld. He kissed the top of her head.

"Wow", whispered Silly in awe as they emerged from the shadows.

Thess grinned and climbed off the hellhound. They were in the middle of Elysium and both kids were in awe at being surrounded by all this beauty. Thess took both little ones by the hands and led the way. He distinctively remembered where the house of the Beckendorfs was and he had send word beforehand to warn the couple of their visit. His grip on Jimmy's hand tightened, because the boy wanted to bolt off and run away to check everything out closely. He was too curious for his own good and there was no way Thess would leave the little boy on his own here. Not a second.

"We got a message that a di Angelo wants to visit us, but I didn't expect it to be... Oh, you look so very much like your mother when we knew him", whispered the beautiful blonde.

Thess grinned and ducked his head to hide his blush. He loved hearing that he looked like their mom. The pretty lady pulled him into a hug, pulling all three children into the house. A tall, broad dark-skinned man sat on the couch, offering them a smile. Silly and Jimmy were still in awe, looking around greedily. They had never seen this side of the underworld. Thess smiled politely.

"Thank you for having us, Mister and Missus Beckendorf", said Thess timidly.

"Oh please, honey, it's Silena", chided the gorgeous woman, patting the couch. "And Charles – don't make that constipated face, Charlie. Now, what can we do for you three?"

"My name is Thess", introduced Thess, sitting down and pulling the twins with him to sit on either side of him. "Theseus Paul, that is. I prefer Thess, even though aunt Clarisse says it's a girl's name."

"Clarisse...", echoed Silena, a sad yet happy look on her face. "How... is she?"

"Auntie Clarisse is awesome!", burst Jimmy out, eyes wide and excited.

"Yes! She teaches us everything and her Carry is our friend", agreed Silly with a large smile.

"Carry Rodriguez, that is. Aunt Clarisse's daughter", explained Thess at the curious looks on the couple's face. "Now, we're here because... Those are my little siblings, James Charles and Laura Silena. Named after mamma's grandparents and, well, you. They were curious to learn more about you two and... I thought... all the stories in the world will never make up for meeting someone."

"You must be Annabeth's favorite among the di Angelos", grunted Charles amused.

"So you are named after me, mh?", asked Silena and stood to kneel in front of Silly. "My, I do feel flattered. You're pretty enough to be a daughter of Aphrodite yourself, sweetheart. Just like me. You said Clarisse teaches you fighting? Are you good? Do you enjoy training?"

"It's very exhausting and boring", sighed Silly with a pout. "But I wanna be a hero."

"That's good", nodded Beckendorf, looking at the twins thoughtfully. "Training is important."

"And you're a tinkerer like uncle Leo and uncle Jake?", asked Jimmy curiously, leaning forward.

"You're your father's son, aren't you", chuckled Beckendorf and shook his head.

He felt fondly reminded of young Nico when he had first arrived at camp. Laying one arm around his Silena, he settled for an afternoon of being interrogated by three little di Angelos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will deal with Donny's reaction to Bianca Maria's decision to join the Hunt!


	23. L is for Loss [February 2031]

**23\. L is for Loss [February 2031]**

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I _hate_ you!"

Screaming and screeching and sobbing, Donny ran up into his room, slamming the door shut with such intensity that one of the pictures on his wall fell down. Hiccuping breathlessly, Donny slid down his door, sitting in front of it. He pulled his legs up against his chest and wrapped his arms around them before he started sobbing into his knees.

"Donny? Come on, let me in. We have to talk about this", pleaded Bianca Maria.

"Why?", spat Donny viciously. "You don't want to see me again anyway, so you can as well start _right now_ and you already made up your mind, so what's there to talk about?! _Go away_."

Bia tried again, a few times over the next couple hours, but in the end she gave up. Good, Donny thought gloomily. She had given up on their family anyway, so who cared?

"Donny, tesorino? Can we talk?"

Donny huffed as he looked up to glare heatedly at his dad. Nico stepped out of the shadows opposite Donny, looking very unimpressed by Donny's glare. The older di Angelo walked over to his son and slowly sat down next to Donny. For a little while, they stayed in silent.

"I felt the same way", admitted Nico softly. "When my older sister joined the hunt and abandoned me. I thought she did it to spite me, because she hated me, I thought it was my fault."

"I know it's not my fault", whispered Donny shallowly. "She wouldn't abandon you and mamma and our siblings because of me. But... But why doesn't she love all of us enough to stay?"

"It's not about love", offered Nico, laying one arm around Donny's shoulder to pull him closer. "It's about destiny. About your own path. Bianca Maria found hers."

"H—How can that be her path? Abandoning us all!", exclaimed Donny angrily, sobbing again.

"She's sixteen now", whispered Nico. "Two more years of high school. Most of her friends are already sure what they want to do after graduation. Bianca Maria doesn't. She wants to do good, she became this incredible hero at camp, but she's still mostly 'Percy Jackson's daughter'. 'Of course she's a great hero, she's Percy Jackson's daughter'. Even I overheard this over the years. But becoming a huntress means to shed her past. It doesn't matter whose daughter you are, you become a huntress of Artemis instead. Bia wants to form her own life. It's not about not loving all of us enough, not the least bit, Donny. It's about her and only her."

"It... It still isn't _fair_ ", countered Donny weakly, fingers clawing into his jeans.

"I know it's not", agreed Nico solemnly, pulling Donny some closer so he could properly hug his oldest son. "But... and I'm not sure if this is going to help or make things worse... I lost my Bianca. My sister died after she joined the hunt. It had nothing to do with the hunt itself, she would have died on that quest either way and I know she would have tagged along either way too. The point is that she died and I was angry with her for leaving me. Don't be the one got make her feel abandoned. Don't make her feel like you hate her. Don't allow her to leave here, feeling like she disappointed you. I know it's not easy right now, I know you're angry, but... she's still your sister and she still loves you. Make sure she knows that you love her too when she leaves."

"But... But... how do I ever... forgive her?", asked Donny in a slightly broken voice.

He leaned his forehead against Nico's shoulder, clinging onto his father, who just sighed. "It's hard, I'll tell you that. You and me, we're prone to holding grudges. But there's another thing we underworld kids are good at. We love very fiercely. You love your sister. Make sure she knows that. Make also sure she knows that you're still angry with her. It'll bring you chocolate and maybe she will feel inclined to visit more often. Which she will. She won't be gone from our lives, Donny. She will visit us. It won't be that much different from her going to college in another state."

"...I wouldn't have liked that either", muttered Donny defiantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will focus on the friendship between Jack and Matt, because that's rather precious to me but I feel they always take a second place to the Hoods and Jackie!


	24. P is for Pets [June 2031]

**24\. P is for Pets [June 2031]**

Jack di Angelo was pouting. He was only four years old, which meant he was still too young for summer camp, which meant while all his big siblings got to see the half-horse-man and train with him, Jackie had to stay at home. Okay, maybe he didn't mind as much, because summer meant he had mommy and daddy all to himself. No big siblings to steal his mommy and daddy away.

"Jackie? Are you still pouting?"

Jack didn't want to answer, because he was _not_ pouting. But it was his Donny – his favorite big brother. Not that he loved Jimmy and Thess any less though. But Donny was the oldest. So the biggest brother, which meant he was best at being a big brother, which made him the best big brother, right? Before he could get a headache from thinking, his beloved Donny came in, smiling at him. Jack's face brightened as he saw the little blonde with Donny.

"Mattie!", yelped Jack and rushed over to hug his best friend tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, mamma said you were pouting because all of us will leave for Camp Half-Blood on Monday, so I thought I'd invite your best friend for a sleepover", replied Donny with a fond smile.

"Thank you, Donny!", exclaimed Jack and kissed his big brother's cheek. "Now go!"

Donny chuckled as he left the little boys on their own. Mattie Chase was already five years old, which meant he was already allowed to go to camp this year. Both were pouting that they couldn't go together, but the di Angelos thought that Jackie was still too young. Matt grinned at his best friend and climbed onto his bed, trying to squeeze in between the giant hellhound and the skeleton kitten who both laid curled together on Jack's bed. Since Jack won't have his big siblings for the summer, he had decided that Small Bob and Mrs. O'Leary would spend the summer with him.

"I wanna have my own pet", declared Jack as he snuggled in between Mrs. O'Leary's paws.

"But... there's two creepy and large pets in your bed", pointed Matt out. "No offense."

The hellhound huffed and turned away from Matt, instead rather licking Jack's cheek, making the boy laugh loudly. "Nu-uh. They're mommy's pets. He got them from friends who thought mommy could take good care of them. You're my friend. Can't you give me a pet too?"

"That's not how things work", frowned the blonde boy, tilting his heads. "I think."

"But I'll be lonely when my siblings _and_ you are gone for the summer", pointed Jack out.

His lower lip quivered as he stared at Matt with large, sea-green eyes. "I can't give you a pet, Jack! Maybe your mommy will, if you're good this summer? Oh, I know! You could do much with those two and prove to your mommy that you're responsible. Like, go and take Mrs. O'Leary out on walks and clean the cat litter after Small Bob, or something like that?"

Small Bob meowed in agreement and pushed his head against Jack's. Jack grinned broadly and determined. Matt was clever. Matt was right. He would prove to his mommy that he was responsible and then he would get his own pet, something to cuddle that was his and his alone.

"Thank you, Mattie", grinned Jack broadly, looking up at his friend.

"What pet do you want?", asked Matt curiously, getting comfortable on Mrs. O'Leary.

"Uhm...", hummed Jack thoughtful, frowning. "Huh. I dunno. Maybe a dragon?"

"Dragons are no pets!", yelped Matt and shook his head. "Kittens and puppies are pets and your family has weird pets anyway, but dragons are _too_ weird! Something else, please."

"So I won't get a phoenix too?", huffed Jack, frowning even deeper.

"Urgh. You're horrible, Jack!", huffed Matt and rolled his eyes.

Jack just grinned broadly at his best friend. He knew he was horrible. Papà always said that too and then he would kiss Jack's forehead and ruffle his hair. And auntie Clarisse always said that horrible was a family-trade of the Jacksons, so that meant he had it from his mommy and that was good.

"Maybe a dinosaur then?", suggested Jack, tilting his head. "With a lo—ong neck!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Jimmy's gonna get injured and Nico has to deal with it while Percy is visiting his parents in New York. Will he be able to handle it, or will he panic...?


	25. X is for X-Ray [August 2031]

**25\. X is for X-Ray [August 2031]**

Jimmy was crying loudly, crocodile-tears running down his cheeks as he sobbed loudly. Nico just stood there, frozen in the spot, staring at him like a deer caught by the hunter. There were only two thoughts passing through his mind. One; His precious baby was hurt. Two; Percy was going to kill him. Percy had left for a weekend with his mother and stepfather, he had asked if Nico would be alright and Nico had shrugged it off and said he'd be fine. Jimmy's leg pointed the wrong way.

"Daddy! Daddy, _do something_!", screeched Silly panicked, rushing to her twin-brother.

Shaking his head, Nico rushed over to his crying son and gathered the eight-years-old boy up in his arms. Jimmy was sobbing and hiccuping, clinging onto his daddy for dear life.

"D—Daddy, hurts", whined Jimmy, snot-nose rubbing against Nico's shoulder.

"D—Donny!", called Nico out, eyes large and worried.

Seconds later and his oldest son stuck his head out of the window. "What's wrong, papà?"

"Jimmy is... he fell off the tree. I'll bring him to the hospital. Can you watch your siblings?"

The bored expression on Donny's face turned worried as he looked at his dad. "Of course."

Nico nodded relieved. "Silly, be a good girl and go back inside. I'll take care of Jimmy."

"You will fix my Jimmy?", asked Silly with an upset frown.

When Nico nodded hastily, Silly reluctantly turned toward the house just as Nico shadow-traveled the crying boy in his arms over to the hospital. Jimmy gasped and clung onto his dad. Shadow-traveling still made him feel all squishy inside. He was horribly scared, because his leg hurt worse than ever before in his entire life. But daddy was with him and kept whispering soothing voices and he hadn't just brought Jimmy to any doctor, not, he brought him to uncle Will and uncle Will was nice and knew how to be sweet with them. Jimmy was still afraid what was going to happen.

"It's okay, Jimmy", assured Will with a smile. "I'm just gonna take a quick picture of your leg. But not just outside your leg, with this device I can take a picture of your bones and see what's wrong."

"Wow", whispered Jimmy in awe. "A picture of beneath the skin? That's so cool."

Will laughed amused as he continued to do so. When the picture was done, he gave it to Jimmy and while Jimmy studied it intensely, Will and Nico talked. After that, Jimmy got a cool black cast on his leg and when Will was done putting that on and Will showed him how to work with the crutches and led him outside, daddy was in the middle of being lectured by mommy.

"I told you he shouldn't climb that tree", sighed Percy frustrated. "I was just gone a weekend-"

"Is not daddy's fault", frowned Jimmy. "I didn't listen to him and he was helping Percy and Thess with homework and I climbed the tree and then I slipped and fell. But it's alright now! Look, uncle Will have me this awesome cast and he drew a flower on it with silver Edding and says that all my friends can sign their names on it and it's real awesome and he took an Extra-Ray of my leg!"

He made to grab the picture, but nearly slipped due to holding the crutches, so his father hastily took the photo from him. "It's called an x-ray, tesorino."

"Oh. But it's real awesome anyway", nodded Jimmy determined. "Makes me look like one of daddy's skeleton warriors! See? Can we frame it and put it in my room?"

Percy heaved a deep sigh and sank onto his knees in front of Jimmy, looking the boy deep in the eyes before kissing his forehead. "Of course we can. But... You need to listen to your papà and me, you hear me? When we forbid you from doing something, we don't say it to be mean, we say it because it's safer that way. You could have gotten hurt even worse, sweetheart. I was really, really scared when Donny said you were at the hospital. You don't want to scare your mamma, right?"

Jimmy looked upset as he shook his head. "Nu-uh. I'm sorry, mommy."

Percy smiled strained and shook his head, looking up at Nico. "Doesn't matter now. How about we all go home, mh? Hot chocolate and a Disney movie sound like the perfect thing right now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to have cute Hades-Jack-bonding ;)


	26. Y is for Yes [February 2032]

**26\. Y is for Yes [February 2032]**

There was one word Jack heard more often than others – well, maybe also 'tesorino' – but most people said one particular word to him. That word was 'Yes'. And Jack liked hearing it.

That mamma used it was logical, because mamma had a hard time saying no to any of his kids.

And with papà, who was a bit more inclined to not spoiling them all and say no every now and again, it really-really helped that Jackie was mamma's mini-me and mamma was the one person papà really-really couldn't say no to. So looking like mamma worked out real well.

With his big siblings, it helped that he was the youngest. He was their cute, adorable little brother who needed to be protected, sheltered, loved and pampered. Jack totally agreed.

With grandma Sally and grandpa Paul, both factors weighted in. That he looked like mamma and that he was the youngest grandchild they had. But then, grandma and grandpa liked spoiling them all, not just Jack. Maybe Jack was just the one asking for a teensy bit more than his siblings.

With grandpa Poseidon, it probably helped that he was the only water-controlling one without an 'add-on'. Both Thess and Silly were hard to separate from their death-controlling twins and thus didn't really spend too much time down in the ocean. Jackie could, as much as he wanted (or, well, as much as mamma and papà would allow him anyway).

The only one with whom he hadn't really figured out why it worked so well was grandpa Hades. Grandpa Hades held a special kind of love for Bia, because she looked like auntie Bianca had. And probably because she also had underworld-powers. But why Jackie?

"What's it, munchkin? You look thoughtful", asked Hades, rocking Jack on his lap a little.

The four-and-a-half-years-old giggled at that, clinging onto grandpa's robes even tighter. "Why do I get all the things I get, grandpa? Why do _you_ never says no to me?"

Hades looked surprised and taken aback for a long moment. "What do you mean?"

"Well, grandma Sally says yes because I look like mamma. So does papà, but because of different reasons", started Jack to answer with a serious look. "And my siblings because I'm the youngest."

"Okay, okay, I get it, munchkin", grunted Hades amused, ruffling Jack's hair.

"But you didn't like mamma when mamma was younger", continued Jack, surprising Hades. "I know that! You kidnapped grandma Sally because you thought mamma was bad, but then mamma wasn't bad and mamma and papà fell in love and you started being nice to mamma for papà."

Hades snorted amused and fondly. "That is startling accurate. So, what do you want to hear?"

"If you only like mamma because papà loves him, then why do you allow me everything? It's not because I look like mamma", explained Jack simply. "I wanna know why."

"You do look like Percy Jackson", agreed Hades with a frown, patting Jack's unruly hair. "But Percy Jackson looks just like Poseidon. I don't know what your parents told you about the old stories of us gods, but when Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Hestia and I were small, we practically raised each other. When I look at you, I don't think of your mamma, I think of your grandpa. See, when we were children, we were all very close, probably also because we didn't have many options. Your grandpa was the cutest little thing and aside from him, I only had older sisters. I always felt responsible for Poseidon, like your older siblings feel responsible for you. And when I look at you, I think of... happy times. Of Poseidon as that cheerful little boy who'd trail after me and play with me."

Jack looked in total awe. "That's so cool! What was grandpa Poseidon like as a child?"

"He actually was a lot like you", chuckled Hades fondly. "He was very inquisitive and also really adorable. It was impossible to say no to him. Guess that's why I can't say no to you."

"Yes is better anyways", declared Jack determined and nodded sharply, before hugging Hades really tightly. "I love you, grandpa! Can we go ride on Zerberus now? Pretty please?"

"How could I ever say no to those eyes?", sighed Hades and shook his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because caring big brother Hades is forever headcanon. Next chapter is going to be the last one - and it will serve as a tie-in to "Chasing Fireflies", taking place essentially one hour before "Chasing Fireflies" does~


	27. J is for Journal [May 2032]

**27\. J is for Journal [May 2032]**

It had been a year. A whole year. Well, a bit more than a year actually. And Nico and Percy started getting worried. Bianca Maria? She was fine. She loved her new life, adored Thalia and loved fighting the good fight all over the planet. It was Donny they were worried about.

For the first few months, they let him be. It was only natural that he was angry and upset about her leaving. Bia was the one he had the closest bond with, even though he loved all his siblings.

But by now a year had passed and still nothing seemed to really help.

They had tried therapists, had tried sending other family members and friends to talk to Donny. And three months ago, on the one year anniversary of Cal Rodriguez and Bianca Maria leaving, Sander had come up with an idea. Clawing at straws, they had agreed. Buying Donny a journal so he could write his thoughts down, sort them. If he refused to talk to anyone, maybe that could work.

For the past three months, the journal had been laying around doing nothing but collecting dust.

"I'm at my wit's end", sighed Percy frustrated as he collapsed on the bed.

It was not just frustrating, it was incredibly painful to see your own child suffer without being able to help. And truly, they had tried everything at this point. Nico heaved a sigh as he sat down to pull Percy close and into a hug. With a whine did Percy bury his face in Nico's neck.

"One last resort", whispered Nico determined, caressing Percy's head.

"What is there that we haven't tried already?", sighed Percy and looked up.

"We sent everyone to talk to him, everyone he cares about, we tried giving him that journal as Sander suggested and both of us thought it may help. Now we're sending the one person he may listen to to tell him the journal is for usage not for laying around", stated Nico simply. "I called Bianca Maria and she said she's on her way."

"She already tried to talk to him dozens of times too", argued Percy with a glare.

"But this time, she's supposed to push him to try and write into that diary", stated Nico. "The longer I thought about it, the better this idea of Sander's seems to me. Donny is... dangerous."

"Never heard you say that", muttered Percy doubtfully, glaring a bit.

Nico heaved a sigh. "He is my son. He has the same... capacity for grudges as I do, but apparently he is even better at holding them than I ever was. It's not called a fatal flaw for nothing, Percy. Look at him, he is... he is bottling up his feelings, his anger, allowing it to grow and fester. He needs to get it all out. If he keeps bottling up his feelings, he will explode at one point and that is going to be dangerous. For himself and possibly for us or others."

Now it was Percy's turn to heave a deep sigh. "You're right. I remember how anger-fueled you were when you took on Minos in the labyrinth. I'm just grateful you were on my side back then..."

"That's because I was madly in love with you", huffed Nico, kissing Percy's temple. "We need to find a kind of anchor for Donny too. Maybe a journal will ground him for now."

"And if anyone can make him do something, it might be Bianca Maria", agreed Percy with a frown. "Especially since she's... really, really angry with him for refusing to accept help. She's good at kicking her siblings' butts. She'll come today and talk to him?"

"She is", confirmed Nico. "She said she won't be able to stay for long because they're in the middle of a crisis. Something about the nature spirits going wild all around the world. They had been busy for months with this now, but she managed to get an hour off to talk to Donny."

"Hopefully, she'll get through his thick skull", muttered Percy, face hidden in his husband's chest. "And maybe... just maybe camp will help him out too? Last year, it was too close to when Bia had left and it had upset him. But maybe now it may help distract him. Maybe he'll make new friends."

"You're such an optimist", grinned Nico softly, kissing the top of Percy's head. "I love that."

_~*~ The End ~*~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only found it appropriate to end this with a tie-in to "Chasing Fireflies". You could say that this chapter takes place right between the last chapter of "Chasing Origins: Sam's Story" and the first chapter fo "Chasing Fireflies"!
> 
> Now, this story is over, but it is not the end of my headcanon timeline! I'm currently working my way through the Kitty/Percy oneshot and I have plans of working on "Chasing Real Life" this winter~ ;)


End file.
